Air Gear: Lost Regalia
by benderboyboy
Summary: Set in the months after Sleeping Forest disbanded, the story follows a team of young Storm Riders and their entanglement with a group of mysterious and deadly foes who are after a power that can match even the legendary Sky Regalia.
1. Gear one: Out of the Barrel

**Author's note: Rewrote Gear One and two. Edited Gear Three onwards. There are a lot of changes, I know. Sorry about this, but there are so many things I left out and I really had to put it in or the story will make no sense later on. Won't happen again.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Air Gear, it belongs to Oh Great! I do however own all original characters, Roads and other stupid things you will come across.**_

Gear One: Out of the Barrel

_And the gun shall sing…_

It was like any other day at Yoshiro Junior High. The sun was shining, the birds chirping, students were falling asleep in their classrooms and fifteen years old Shou Kenta was…

"Skipping class again? That's the third time this week!" the senior male teacher exclaimed.

"I'm sorry for the trouble Mitsui Sensei." The fifteen years old female blond student replied. "I'll go get him right now."

"I'd appreciate that Miu. Make sure the two of you come back to class before the bell goes. I didn't bring my pass so I can't confirm your safety if you get caught." The teacher said with a smile and Miu was off for the roof.

**XXX**

His black hair was of medium length and naturally spiked up. He had a look of deep tranquility across his face as he sat on the railings of the roof, looking up at the blue sky with his warm black eyes. His uniform consisted of long silk black pants and a white buttoned up uniform with a collar. He swung his legs back and forth with opposite rhythms and hums a soft melody.

"Shou, are you up here?" The door to the roof closed behind Miu Hotaru. "I thought I'd find you here. Come to think of it, you're always here."

"Morning Miu." Shou replied sheepishly.

She took her own seat beside the male and swung her legs to the same rhythm. Her attire was of a black knee length skirt and a female version of the uniform of the school. Her dyed blond hair flows down from her side, reaching her shoulder and behind, tied in a ponytail.

After a short silent, Miu spoke. "We should head back to class."

"You go."

"If you stay, then I'm staying too." She replied smiling.

"You've never missed class before." He retorted.

"And you've never been to class before." She countered, giving her a blazing stare with her brown eyes. It was not a complete lie though since even when Shou is in class, he'll be far away in dreamland, fast asleep.

Shou gave a loud sigh. "Alright, you win." He said. "But even if I want to come to class, I can't."

"Don't make me push you!" Miu threatened him. "It's five stories high."

"Whoa! Wait a minute; I just drop my crutch when I climbed onto this railing that's all." Shou replied waving his hands in an attempt to defend himself.

Miu got off the rail and helped Shou off as well. "Come on you troublesome lump for a friend, you can lean on me. We'll get you're crutch after school."

Shou shamelessly leaned against her for there was nothing to be ashamed of. When you're right leg muscle is partially paralyzed and unable to carry your own body weight, getting helped to move around is part of the daily routine.

For Miu, she was used to it. Having known the guy for over seven years and carrying him on a weekly basis, he seemed pretty light to her now.

"I heard you're having another Parts War today. The Star Trekkers against the Hell Gates again was it?" Shou asked suddenly as they descended the stairs.

"Yes we are. Akio told you didn't he?" Miu replied.

"We both know he isn't exactly one who'd keep his mouth shut about something."

"I'm not sure about that. I've got a feeling he knows how to more than just keep secrets."

**XXX**

The bell rang and the classroom slowly empties. Miu makes her way to the far end of the room where Shou has fallen asleep to wake him. She remembers her friends saying that she is like a maid to the guy. Well, to a certain extent it may be true but she doesn't really mind.

"Come on Shou," She said, shaking the arm of the teen. "school's over, time to go home."

Shou popped his head out of the hands he buried them in and looked up to Miu. He gave a yawn while saying, "All right, let's get to the meeting place."

"What place?" Miu said confused.

"The Parts War, you're going to meet up with the guys right?" Shou replied.

"Yeah…, don't tell me you want to come along?"

Shou tilted his head to the left and leaned it against his fist and replied sheepishly, "Why, can't I come?"

Miu was reluctant but Shou insisted and in the end, she agreed to his request.

"Great!" Shou exclaimed excitedly, grabbing his crutch which lay by the wall and stood up. "Let's get going!"

**XXX**

Two figures waited silently in a long stretch of alley. Both were members of the Star Trekkers, waiting for their teammates to arrive. The female had short jet black hair with a ribbon tied to it. Her choice of clothing was a knee length frill skirt and a comfortable yellow polo shirt. She is a rider of the Rover Road, fifteen years old Amaya Sayuri.

The twenty four years old male beside her fancied a black cap where strands of white hair flowed out the back. He wore a tight black singlet which showed off his muscles and navy blue jeans with a chain belt. His name is Akio Isamu.

They heard the sounds of the familiar Air Trecks wheels.

"I sure hope it's Miu and Daichi." Amaya said nervously. Though the Hell Gates had not arrived yet, they were still running late with two members short.

Their hopes were quickly washed away as Masaru Nobu, leader of the Hall Gates came cruising in with five members at his heels. Each of them wore a black cloak and red devil mask. Masaru was the only one without the mask. His face has multiple scars which shows his past battles and has fashioned a blue shark fin haircut.

"Oh, I thought there would be more of you? Did the others chicken out?" Masaru greeted them with a taunt. "We're already damn lenient to you guys, making this a four on four instead of five. Do we have to make it a two?"

His tone was full of undeserved confident and Amaya had to grit her teeth as Akio replied to his taunts. "They'll be here, you'll see." Just as he said it, Miu, still in her school uniform, came in from the opposite of the Hell Gates.

She scanned her surrounding quickly and completely ignoring Masaru, asked Akio, "Where's Daichi?"

Akio shrugged and Miu stirred her head with a glare directed at the opposing leader.

Masaru gave an evil smile. "Maybe he fell asleep somewhere on the road?"

Masaru wanted to continue with more aggressive insults but a voice broke him off. "Eh? This is a Parts War? It's a much smaller scale than I thought it would be." Behind Miu, Shou slowly made his way towards the feuding group. "Hey guys. Where's Daichi?"

"Looks like he wont make it." Miu said, not looking away from Masaru.

"And Taku?" Shou asked again.

"He left last week." Amaya answered.

"Well now, that's just sad." Shou lamented at the parting of his friend. "He went to America with that scholarship of hi didn't he?"

Takura Maki, once a member of Star Trekkers. He had an I.Q of a genius level and even thought he was only fifteen, he was scoring full marks even for tests taken by people twice his age. Not only that, that guy was pretty talented in sports as well. He took to Air Trecks like a duck to water and was doing high level tricks in less than two months. A true prodigy.

"We'll have to make do without him and apparently, without Daichi as well." Miu added.

Masaru's smile grew even wider. "Have you forgotten? We already let you off for only having four members left on the team. We're not gonna stand for only three. Looks like you just have to forfeit the match."

"WHAT!?" The Star Trekkers shouted in unison.

"Whoa, wait a second," Shou cut in. "Why do you guys need to forfeit again?" He finished as he placed his bag down on the floor and unzipped it.

Miu looked at him questioningly. "Well, he just said we didn't have enough riders."

"What are you talking about? The way I see it," He pulled out a golden Air Treck, custom made for the left leg. Silver lining ran down the sides and round the rim of the wheels. A slipper like stand is screwed into place on top of it with straps dangling loosely at the sides. It has two grey front wheels and a tennis ball sized back ball-roller wheel. "you do have four riders."

**XXX**

Shou held steadily to the wall of the alleyway, his legs wobbling as if he was about to fall. Miu stared at him with a worried expression. She had been reluctant to let Shou be in this race but under Amaya's and Akio's insistence that with him, they can at least still take part, she caved in.

She turns round to find Akio staring at the lame teen as well. But his looks were not of worry but borders more on _'What do you think you're doing?' _Miu was snapped out of the trance when she heard wolf-whistle of the opposing referee which calls for the start of the race.

_**Parts War, E-Class, Star Trekkers V.S Hell Gates, BEGIN!**_

Miu and Masaru rocketed off the starting line, their goal being the end of the alley. Akio followed suit, behind him are two Hell Gaters and after, Amaya started off.

"You're not going?" The last Gater asked.

Shou smiled and went into a crouching position. "Aren't you?" And in a flash, he disappeared with only a trace of dust, leaving the last man shocked in his ATs.

Amaya swerved right and then left into the wall. She turns herself, slides her right leg in reverse to ride backwards, places her left AT on the wall and immediately shot up in a ninety degrees angle and over the two opponents in front of her.

**Orbit 180 to Eifel Tower**

She landed beside Akio who gave her a cheeky smile. Suddenly, the male finds a chain wrapped around his right hand. Without enough time to even digest this turn of events, he was pulled back. Losing control of his ATs, he turns to see the Hell Gaters releasing the chain and behind them, a figure riding towards him.

"That guy is such a-!" Before he could finish his sentence, his instinct took over and he dived forward, passing the two Gaters. He made a superman-liked roll and once he was facing upwards, he extended his legs to face Shou with both feet closed.

Shou smashed into the space in between the two ATs with a dropkick which manipulate Akio to bend his knee and body to roll backwards until the legs pointed back at Amaya and the Hell Gaters. Akio pushed his legs which forces both ATs to roar loudly as the wheels of one turned the other as well. Shou gave another smirk and kicked off from Akio's legs, shooting pass the Gaters and Amaya with incredible speed.

**Tag team acceleration, Round the Gear**

**XXX**

Miu could see Masaru up ahead with the light coming up at the end of the alley. She sped up, not willing to give up.

An evil smile crossed Masaru's face. He raised his right hand an around twenty of his men appeared on the roof of the buildings, each of them standing behind two wooden crates.

Miu, sensing the danger, skidded to a stop as crates after crates come crashing down in front of her and soon the entire alleyway became a wooden maze.

"Darn it!" Miu cursed out loud. In that instance, Shou shot passed her, lifting up a gust of wind, ruffling her hair and outfit. "What t-!"

Shou lifted his feet up until he's only on his roller wheel. He swings his arms hard and turns his body exactly ninety degrees to the right, placed the rest of his feet down and gave a hard push. He ricocheted off in an exact right angle to the right, pulling off the tightest turn Miu has ever seen with ease.

**Tightness turn, Recoil**

He executed Recoil again, turning into the maze. From what Miu could see behind the rubbles, he did five more at close range, not once did he lost speed. Coming out from the destruction of boxes, Shou sped past Masaru with ease, sliding to a stop right after the finish line seconds before Masaru crossed.

Miu gathered as much of her composure she had left after witnessing those feats and asked nervously, "Shou, you have a lot of explaining to do."

Shou smiled weakly at her, "Yeah, I know."

Tricks

Orbit: A trick where a rider slide a leg backwards to revolve their body around the other leg which acts as a pivot point.

Eifel Tower: Done only when the rider is facing backwards. To execute, the rider puts a leg on a wall with the feet pointing directly ninety degrees up and pushes forward and downward at the same time which launches the rider into the sky.

Round the Gear: Executed when one rider launches another off his feet after making a roll. Both ATs must be in the same direction for the wheels to accelerate each other. This can also double as a recovery technique by having the launcher flip him or herself up after the kick.

Recoil: A special trick for Shou's Road. It involves twisting the body towards the desired direction while being on a roller wheel and kicking off with full force to make any sharp turns.

Team: Hell Gates

Status: Active

Member count: 23

Masaru Nobu (Leader): A ruthless man who is willing to use any sort of dirty tactics to claim victory. He is the leader of the Hell Gates and held a long lasting grudge with the Star Trekkers.


	2. Gear two: Touching Zenith

**Author's note: Yup, rewritten as well. Let's get it on!**

Gear Two: Touching Zenith

The roof of the train station is specially designed to double as a skate park and was built to accommodate with the increase of Storm Riders and hopefully help narrow the gap between riders and the community. But the whole thing backfired now that since the place has become a common turf to fight over between teams. After winning it back from their Parts War with the Hell Gates, the Star Trekkers have decided to make the place their home base.

The park was build with quarter pipes at all fours. The door which leads down to the station placed in the centre, plastered onto one of the wall of the box like structure with rails to grind above it along the length. To increase safety, the entire area is surrounded by fence but no one even bothers and it turned into a good place to practice wall tricks on.

Sitting on the rail above the fence are the four remaining members of the Star Trekkers made up of Amaya, Miu, Akio and Daichi Isamu.

Daichi Isamu is twenty and a rider of the Star Trackers. He has been riding Air Trecks the longest of all his teammates and is one of their best. He wears a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath and short army green pants and has handsome jelled back blue hair making him very attractive with the ladies.

Miu was out of her school uniform and into more casual attires. Now, she wears a white buttoned up collar shirt which was just her size, showing her curves. Along with is a black frill miniskirt and matching stockings.

Sitting on the far left beside Akio was Daichi, still sulking over what happened the day before. "I can't believe you guys replaced me, and with Shou of all people!"

"Well, it isn't our fault you got your ass kicked by Masaru's boys." Amaya replied insultingly.

Daichi had been like this ever since he heard of his substitution by Shou. He always had a big ego and it was hurt, bad. The truth was, bad wasn't even bad enough to describe it. It was practically shattered.

"You know what?!" Daichi exclaimed suddenly after a moment of silence.

"What?" The other three replied as he jumps off the fence, lands on the half pipe and spins to a stop to face them.

Daichi looked up. "I want a match with him."

Miu stared back quizzically, "He won't accept it you know?"

**XXX**

"Sure, I'll run with him." Shou answered calmly, sipping a can of coke on his living room sofa.

He lives in a two story semi-detach house. His parents are overseas since their jobs require them to travel a lot, being a pilot and air stewardess takes that much out of you. The second floor consists of his parents' room, the bathroom and his own room which occasionally serves as a guest room as well since Shou has a double-decker bed.

The living room is a simple one with walls painted with a tint of blue. Two couches are placed in an 'L' with the longest one facing the television and a coffee table in the centre. The television was placed in between two display cabinets which held model airplanes and many framed pictures taken from oversea adventures. To the right of the living room is a door that led to the kitchen.

Shou was in his casual attire as well which consist of a white unzipped hoody covering a black shirt, black jeans with a brown leather belt and a pair dark grey shoe. Well, there would be a dark grey shoe if he was outside but now, he was just wearing grey socks.

Miu sat beside him, her own coke on the table, barely touched. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Shou placed his empty can on the table right beside Miu's. "Of course I'm sure, why wouldn't I want to?" Miu bit her lip to show her worry and looked away from Shou who noticed her actions and continued gently, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Didn't you see me run yesterday?"

"And you were great!" Miu countered defensively to hide her concern. "But that's just it, I only saw you run once. I'm still not really sure of how to take it. I mean, the explanation you gave me yesterday wasn't exactly fulfilling you know? 'Because I can.', what kind of answer is that?"

"It's a great answer." Shou exclaimed while getting to his feet, swiping the can of empty coke into his hand as he does so. "As I said, don't worry about it, I'll be fine." He finished and starts hopping towards the kitchen.

"Where're you going" Miu asked

"To get another can." He replied while waving the empty drink can behind him.

Miu got up and went over to him, allowing Shou to put his arms around her for balance. "You're gonna get fat if you keep drinking that stuff."

"Woman! You worry too much." Shou replied jokingly with a wide smile. "Besides, it's like a medical condition for me now. I can't help it."

**XXX**

The park across the Shou's house has always been a lively place. Especially on weekends like this where not a single cloud can be seen and the temperature warm. With his battle a few hours away in the afternoon, Shou decided to spend the morning relaxing at the park. He walks pass the fountain in the centre of the park and heads for the newly build skate park.

As he nears the place, a familiar sound could be heard. Something he has been hearing for over the past ten years, the sounds of Air Trecks. But adding to that is the distinct sounds of cheering.

A large crowd has gathered around the half pipe which spanned from one end of the park to the other with two lampposts directly opposite at each end. But what drew the crowd there was no ordinary skater or biker.

A blue haired young boy in his early tens, doing a back flip and flying well above the lamps, the wheel of his ATs grazing the leafs of the tree above and coming down with such perfection and grace that it awes all. His black blazer covering his blue shirt coupled with dark blue jeans gave him the look of the night sea. But his clothes stood out less compared to the joyful smile on his face.

Shou stood there, admiring the young talent, comparing the tricks the boy did to what he did at that age until a certain trick caught his attention above all else. He did a right kick to the lamppost followed by a left and he brought his left leg up over his head and brought it down again, making a vertical scar on the metal. Using the momentum, he did a front flip and landed another vertical kick.

"Falling Falcon…" Shou muttered to himself.

As he landed, the boy raised his hand high in the air to a wave of cheer. But Shou was less than impressed.

"That was some pretty neat tricks you did there kid." Shou approached the boy once the crowd had dispersed.

"Jeez, you really think so?" He replied with a smile. He had an innocent baby voice which all in all made Shou more suspicious.

Shou mustered a smile back. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Say, that last trick you did, it wouldn't happen to be-."

"Akito!" A voice from afar cut him off.

A young man in his early twenties. His white hair was grown near to the waist length. He walks casually toward them with a not so casual attire of white single and purple bellbottom with white flames at the edge. His footwear was a black high heel boots.

"It's time to go Akito." The man repeated.

"Alright brother." Akito replied cheerfully. "See ya mister!" He bid farewell to Shou and headed off in the direction the man came from.

Shou and the new arrival stared down each others eyes. Neither of them backing down.

"Kaito Wanijima. I should've known." Shou started. "That kid doesn't look like the Judas."

Kaito gave a cocky smirk. "He's no. But that is the Judas's body. So, how have you been Tracer?"

"Don't call me that. I don't work for you anymore, crocodile." Shou replied coldly, pausing in his last word for an added effect of defiance.

"Did you forget out deal?"

"Nope, but it sure ain't at the top of my list right now."

"As long as you get it, I'll give you what you want." Kaito continued with his voice slightly colder than before.

Shou gave him one last longing glare of wanting to beat the living shit out of him before turning his back. "After I get my stuff, I'll take that kid down."

"You don't have the guts."

"Watch me." And with his final parting words, Shou walked away from the Wanijima brothers on his own separate way.

**XXX**

"Are you sure you want to do this? You seem like you can barely stand up." Daichi said.

"Of course I'm sure. How many times must I repeat myself?" Shou replied with annoyance.

Shou was holding on to Miu's shoulder for support before the race starts. They've gathered in an alley behind the train station. The race was going to be a quick and simple dash.

"Ok then, the rules for this race is each rider must ride to the roof of the train station via this wall." Akio said.

"And they must then ride down again." Amaya interrupted and was met by Akio's blazing glare.

Akio took a coin out of his pocket, giving Shou and Daichi one last fleeting look; he tossed it in the air. It spins as if time has slowed down just for this race. Once the sound of the coin hitting the ground was heard, both riders kicked off from their position and headed for the wall. Daichi reached it first and rode the wall straight up.

"He doesn't have enough speed!" Amaya exclaimed, pointing to Shou.

Shou charged in straight, bending his knees in the process. Once the wall drew close, he pushed hard and planted his AT vertically on the wall. It seemed like he was stuck on the spot, he AT roaring to keep him rooted to the wall.

"He won't make it." Amaya pointed out.

Just as she said that, Shou using his heel as a pivot, turned his entire leg rightwards and gave a hard push with the side of his feet. And as if by magic, his body shifted upwards by a few centimeters. He did the same thing again, and he moved up, slightly quicker this time. A smirk flashed across his face and with incredible speed, Shou did the move three more times in succession, increasing the speed even further before finishing it off with a Recoil aimed vertically upward. The final push was the strongest one of all and Amaya could barely believe her eyes as Shou rocketed up towards Daichi who already halfway up with relative ease.

**Wall ride, Revolver to Recoil (Revolving Recoil)**

Daichi finally reached the top of the roof while keeping his lead. And just to show off his skills, he did a one-handed handstand on the fence. He looked down or in his case, up to experience the shock of his life.

He saw Shou, rushing up at him with a carefree smile. His past believe of the teen's inability to ride Air Trecks were quickly washed away as Shou shot past him, their eyes crossing at a point.

"Hey, you're gonna…" Shou whispered into his ears but did not manage to finish his sentence as he overtook Daichi. In the air, Shou did a one hundred and eighty degrees back flip before landing perfectly on the fence. On his way down he finished his sentence. "…get left behind!"

Daichi snapped out of his trance and began his own descend, sticking to the wall with his round traction wheels ATs. But it wasn't enough. Shou wasn't even trying to slow down but just falling or more like free falling, positioned in a way that looks like he was riding normally down a wall. _He's gonna crash._

Miu was shocked with worry as Shou made no effort to slow down, even when he was barely meters above the ground. Her voice, stuck in her throat out of worry prevented her from screaming.

"…pain in the ass." Akio muttered out.

Shou bend his knees, legs still sticking close to the wall. Two meters from the ground, he gave a hard push, a ninety degrees jump from the wall. The wind behind him passing through and slamming the ground hard. The three spectator's clothing ruffled as Shou used the large amount of wind gathered to slow his fall, coming to a stop by sliding into a sitting position.

**Pit stop, Shotgun Brake**

Daichi landed behind him seconds later. "Darn it, I guess I got left behind."

Miu let out the breathe she had been holding the whole time, releasing all her worries along with it.

"Don't worry," Shou told Daichi. "you'll catch up soon enough."

"Hey, do you have a Road?" Daichi asked out of the blue.

Shou smiled, "Of course, I ride the Bullet Road."

Tricks

Revolver: A trick performed by a twisting and pushing motion of the leg to push the rider forward. Though effective to use for a normal rider, Shou has to train extra hard to control it.

Revolving Recoil: Finishing off a Revolver of a series of Revolver with a Recoil to induce extra speed.

Shotgun Brake: Instantaneous braking from a fall from a wall. Using the air gathered behind a rider to break the fall by letting the wind burst in front of the rider after a straight kick off from the surface of where the rider is falling off from.

Team: Star Trekkers

Status: Active

Member count: 5

Miu Hotaru (leader): She started the team along with her friends for the just for the sake of riding together. But that doesn't mean she can't hold her own during fights. She inherited the position after their former leader, Takura Maki left.

Akio Isamu: The tech wiz of the group, often doing repairs for the team. He has been known to be able to fight well in tag team matches.

Amaya Sayuri: Cheerful and carefree, she agreed to joined the Star Trekkers just to ride with her friends. In a way, she is the daredevil of the team, often taking on the challenge of doing the dangerous and unknown tricks.

Daichi Isamu: Wall-rider specialist who have been riding the longest out of the latter four. Though he can be a bit of a showoff, he is never a bad sports and takes both wins and loses with calmness.

Shou Kenta (substitute): Substituted for Daichi when he didn't turn up for the match against the Hell Gates. His past is a mystery so is his high level ability in riding Air Trecks.


	3. Gear three, Shift one: Tower of Regrets

**Author's note: The last reviewer said that she still can't understand how Shou's AT work. Now I'm going to try and summarize things. The 'Recoil' move is just how Shou makes sharp turns with his AT by turning with his ball wheel and pushing when he gets the desired direction. The 'Revolver' move (first seen in Gear one when he used it to grind.) is used when Shou wishes to spin around on his AT. When the Revolver and Recoil are used together, Shou can accelerate even at steep angles like when he rides up the wall during Gear two. Now, with that settled, on with the story!**

Gear Three, Shift One: Tower of Regrets

_Climb from the depths and light your heart._

"Shou, did you get the emblems done yet." Miu asked over the phone.

"It's done." Shou replied. "I have it with me right now. I'll bring over to the station tomorrow."

"Ok then Shou, see you tomorrow." And she hanged up. As soon as the beep was heard, Shou let out a huge sigh.

The day after his race with Daichi, Shou was offered a place in the Star Trackers, but he turned them down. And after that, they decided they wanted to change the name of the team and asked if Shou could help them find someone to make and design the new emblem. He reluctantly agreed. But even though he turned down the invitation to join, they seem to have taken it upon themselves to add him to the group, whether he liked it or not.

**XXX**

_They sat, scattered around the living room Akio's four rooms flat. Akio and Daichi sat at the far end, nearest to the balcony playing blackjack and away from the commotion caused by Miu and Amaya trying to talk Shou into helping them_

"_Come on Shou, pretty please?!" Amaya was asking in a cute schoolgirl manner._

"_Why should I help you guys with your team's problem?" He replied, eyelid twitching from annoyance.._

"_Cause you're a part of our team." Miu said._

"_Since when did I agree to that?!"_

_Daichi drew another card from the thick deck before saying, "Since you beat me."_

_By now, Shou was starting to get really annoyed. "But that doesn't make me a part of your team."_

"_Aw come on Shou, please!" Miu begged._

"_Yeah Shou, you owe us one anyway." Amaya said._

"_Since when did I owe you guys? If I remembered correctly, you guys owe me!"_

"_Shou," Akio said suddenly. "I think you should just do it or they might just nag you to death."_

"_Akio, don't tell me you too?" Shou looked at all the Star Trackers staring at him. "All right fine, but I'm not joining your team."_

**XXX**

"Where is he?" Daichi asked as Akio shot off a ramp. "He's late."

They were on the roof of the train station again, awaiting the arrival of Shou and their new team emblem.

"Maybe there's back traffic." Miu said, finishing a grind.

"He's a Storm Rider for god's sake, how can there be traffic when he can just travel from roof to roof?" Daichi continued. He still had some issues about Shou beating him in a race.

The door to the roof burst open as Amaya, panting from breath tried to convey some urgent news to her teammates.

"Calm down Amaya." Akio rode over to her. "Now, take a deep breath and tell us what's going on slowly."

"Left-my-Air-Trecks-at-home." She took a deep breath as instructed and let out what she wanted to tell them in one swift breath. "We've been challenged to a battle! Shou said he'll head off first."

She held out a note and a picture. The picture has that of the emblem of a team called the Stormers placed over the old Star Trackers emblem. The note was a challenge to a D-Class battle, a Cube battle. And since their victory over the Hell Gates, they have risen through the ranks and have become that of a D-Class team. The Cube battle pits riders from both teams in one-on-one fights in separate areas. This one took place at the abandoned AMX construction site on the west side of town.

**XXX**

"Shou!" Miu called out, riding over to Shou who was waiting with one of the Stormers by the gate to the construction site.

"Took you guys long enough."

The member gave a fake cough, annoyed of being completely ignored. He had green spiky hair and wears a pair of oval glasses. His attire was a plain lime shirt with swamp colored jeans.

After gaining the Star Trackers attention, he began explaining the rules. "There will be five battles in this parts war, each taking place on a different level of this building. Your first opponent shall be me, taking place on the ground floor. My name is Shin Toma."

"What are we wagering for this Parts War?" Akio asked; his voice matches Shin's as both of them sounded like teachers or lecturer for high school.

"We will give you anything of your choice once you battled the fifth opponent. You however, will be putting your emblem on the line." Shin replied calmly.

"WHAT!" The team except for Shou and Akio, shouted in unison.

"Yes, your one-legged friend here already agreed to the terms." Shin finished.

Amaya, Miu and Daichi closed in to try to strangle and beat Shou up at this point.

"Well, since my teammates are kind of busy, I'll be your opponent then. But before that, I like to ask what do you mean by we have to fight your fifth opponent to claim victory?" Akio ask calmly, coming to a stop at a large empty void deck with old pillars and a few piles of metals and brick lying here and there. It was where they would battle. "Isn't the point of a cube battle to have our fights simultaneously?"

"Your friend there agreed to that term as well." Shin said and now Daichi was jumping on a pinned down Shou. "Survival matches have always been a specialty of the Stormers."

"I understand that. So shall we begin then?"

"Lets."

With no warning whatsoever, they both charged at each other. Akio bend down to dodge a punch and placed his hands on the floor and did a front flip, attempting to kick Shin with his AT but he missed. They both slide to opposite each other and charged back for another attack. This time, both threw a punch which met. The impact pushed both men back before they came to a stop.

"How long has it been Shin?" Akio shouted.

"A good ten years now."

Of the team, only Shou kept his silence. He knew those two before the team was even formed.

"Is that-?" Shin started but was met with a nod from Akio.

"Yeah, that's him."

"He still looks like shit." Shin said, charging at Akio with a kick which was quickly dodged.

_I'm gonna kill him. _The thought flowed into Shou's mind.

"To think we'd meet again like this." Shin continued, dodging a series of punches from Akio.

"You knew we would." Akio said with a smile, ending his barrage and did a roundhouse kick.

"Right, I guess I did." Shin replied with the same smile, ducking the attack.

Akio jumped back to clear some space and Shin followed with the same. "I thought you went to America to study?"

"Didn't like the place, to boring."

"Ha, same old Shin."

The two charged again, this time, with a yell. Akio managed to hit Shin with his knee, causing him to fly back but not fall. Shin landed in a slide and Akio charged again. Shin took a large metal from a pile nearby and held it like a shield between him and Akio. Akio jumped, swinging his arms and entering a spin. He hit the metal hard but continued spinning. Shin's ATs motor was roaring loudly, but he didn't move one bit.

**Drill Road, Dropkick Drill 1800**

A crack formed on the metal, and soon grew bigger and bigger, a snapping sound and it broke in half. At that time, Akio entered his last spin. Raising his leg, he swings a kick at Shin's head, sending him flying into a wall.

He rode over to him slowly like going through a funeral procession.

"You're still stronger huh?" Shin said softly.

"I guess I am."

"Humph. Tsubasa doesn't know Shou is here."

"I know. If he did, we wouldn't be battling now." Akio said, lowering his voice so the others can't hear.

"But Shou does." Shin said.

"Yes."

"Then this should be interesting. Well, if you don't mind, I'm…going to…take a quick nap. Didn't had much of those since I got back" Shin said and he closed his eyes, entering the realm of sleep.

**Author's end notes: Shift one basically means part one of the chapter. This is going to be a three part chapter because there would be major story plot entrance and stuff. Anyway, one of my friends read the story and said why don't I put a list of maneuvers at the end of every chapter so I said, "Hell, why not?"**

Tricks

Dropkick Drill 1800- Akio jumps at top speed and enters a spinning stat and delivers a long lasting spinning dropkick.


	4. Shift two: The Rainbow & the Broken Wall

Gear Three, Shift Two: The Rainbow and the Broken Wall

_The steps move on and on, even though it was one floor up. Maybe it's because Shou is having trouble. No, he's riding the rail. Shou…you asshole…_

"Where are we?" Amaya said as they got out from the stairs.

They were in a dark corridor with light sticks stuck to the side to guide them, ending at a door to the right at the end of the corridor. They went silently, through the corridor which, passing doors after doors with moss growing from the side. They reach the end and enter the room.

The room is lighted by a single bulb which lights do not seem to be able to reach the four corners of the place. There's no window, most likely a design flaw while building the place.

"So…who's my opponent?" A voice came from the shadow of the room.

"I am." Daichi said suddenly. They didn't discuss it, but Daichi would fit nicely in an enclosed room.

"Hmm…fine. My name is Nobu Daiki. I'm your next opponent." Nobu said.

He is at least twenty to twenty five with long, correction, extremely long black hair…for a guy.

"The rest might want to wait outside, things could get messy." Nobu continued.

Miu wasn't sure they should go but under Akio's and Shou's urging her, they left the room.

"So…" Daichi started.

"So…"

The light swings, casting different shadows on the wall. It flickered, and they started of, spinning in circles round the room.

"Do you think you can catch me?" Nobu shouted, still riding in that circle.

"Do you?" was Daichi's reply before jumping to the walls.

Nobu followed and both rode round and round, trying to catch each other through sheer speed. They weren't running away, they were chasing, both of them. Rounds and rounds they went, making markings all over the wall.

"Do you think you can beat me here, in these enclosed walls where I live?" Nobu shouted.

"You're not the only one who lived in enclosed walls Nobu. But yes, I can beat you, because I've broken down my wall!"

"What!"

"You've never seen outside these lightless rooms have you?" Daichi said. "Let me guess, you weren't allowed to ride ATs, am I right."

"How did you…"

_Son, I don't want to see you riding those Air Tacks of yours._

_It's called Air Trecks dad, and I'll ride it whenever I want._

_That's it; you're not allowed to ride anymore!_

"You rode in your room didn't you?" Daichi continued. "You never rode outside."

"And how would you know?!" Nobu yelled.

"That's because our road is the same."

Both paths skated are the same with the only difference is that one is higher than the other.

"Nobu, I'm going to show you the sky. I'M GOING TO BREAK DOWN YOUR WALL!"

Daichi started to skate on only one side of the wall in a figure-of-eight at extreme speed. Nobu followed, putting in all his skills to catch up. There was smoke from the friction. Next, cracks appear, small ones, which grew larger and increased in numbers.

"What are you doing?! We're in a battle you know!" Nobu yelled.

"I'm breaking your wall." And Daichi jumped off, followed by Nobu.

They stood facing each other in the room, the light above continued swinging. It flickered again, and the wall crumpled, showing the setting sun outside. It was a short battle, but both men were sweating beyond reason.

**Enclosed Road, Figure the Eight wall ride**

"I guess you won." Nobu said.

"I guess I did."

"Thanks."

At that moment, the wheels on Nobu's ATs crumbled, leaving Nobu standing on its axis and motor.

Upon being called, the rest of the team came in and proceeded through the door opposite into another corridor. Once the door shut behind them, Daichi sat down on the ground and took off his ATs.

"Daichi, what's wrong?" Amaya asked.

Daichi held up his ATs which wheels crumbled off like Nobu's, falling onto the ground in bits and pieces. "I need a new pair."

**XXX**

The group proceeded up the stairs, more silently than before. Again, time seems to slow down and the steps endless. But soon, they reach the next level and entered a large room. The room was a large empty space. The walls separating the rooms were knocked down and so was the roof, leaving the entire fourth and fifth floor empty as well. A large pile of rubble laid at the right along with a few tins of old unopened cans of paints and building equipments.

A female stood at the opposite corner of the group. She's wearing a tank top and jeans and has silvery short hair.

"My name is Nanami Hiroko and I'm your third opponent." She said. Her voice sounded very calm yet at the same time, sad.

Amaya stepped out this time. "I'll be your opponent." Unlike Daichi who preferred small confined space, she liked it wide and open.

Nanami smiled and they immediately started off. Amaya rushed to her as fast as she could but went in for a kick but Nanami jumped over her and landed beautifully. But she was already starting to pant.

"Oh, that's a good one." Daichi commented.

"Daichi, what do you mean by that?" Miu said.

"Just from that jump, I can tell Nanami won't last long in this match."

"How do you know that?" Akio asked.

"She used a lot of strength." Shou continued for him. "That shows that she doesn't jump a lot."

"So what's your point?" Miu said.

"This room is huge Miu. Once Amaya gets the height advantage over her, this battle would be over. And from the looks of it, she's doing just that." Daichi said, his eyes not looking away from the battle.

Amaya has been constantly kicking away at Nanami who dodges them skillfully while keeping her feet on the ground, not jumping unless she have no other choice. Like Daichi said, Amaya must have spotted Nanami's weakness for she seems to be luring her towards the pile of rubble.

"I hate Cube battles." Amaya said. "Don't you?"

"Well, what else can I do? I'm only good at riding ATs when I'm actually trying to punch someone!" Nanami yelled, throwing a punch.

"I bet you can't fly."

_Can't I?_

Nanami was finally lured to the pile of rubble and with no other choice, she headed up the pile. Reaching the top, she was at the height of the fifth floor. Looking down, she felt tense and her whole body shook. Behind her, Amaya had knocked down and broke opened the old cans of paint and was just riding in a circle, looking up at Nanami.

Feeling insulted, Nanami took into a jump and attempted to ride the wall. All was going well until halfway through, she panicked and fell from the forth floor. She landed in a crash.

_She's right, I can't fly._

"Over here Nanami!" Amaya shouted and Nanami turned to look at the girl who was jumping up the pile of rubble.

_Insult to injury, great._

"If you can't fly now, maybe you can fly later."

"What are saying?"

"I'll give you a challenge," Amaya said playfully. She jumped off the top and rode the wall. She was facing the roof with one of her AT in front of the other. She seemed as if she was sliding over the wall. With three wheels on each of her ATs, she formed six different colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. "I'll treat you to lunch or something, if you can touch the rainbow."

**Rover Road, Over the Rainbow**

**Author's end note: "Where's the plot!" must be what some of you must be thinking. Relax and be patient. For there to be a real plot, past stories must be told. Shift Three would really focus on a huge deal of plot, including Shou's and Akio's mysterious past, and of course, how this Tsubasa guy has anything to do with Shou.**

Tricks

Figure the Eight (Wall ride): Daichi's and Nobu's maneuver. The rider basically rides in a figure-of-eight. It gets harder when the rider increases their speed and the area of the eight gets smaller. This puts a lot of pressure and friction on the wheels, causing them to shatter after the rider stops the maneuver or slow downs for the heat caused by the friction is what keeps the wheels in tack.

Over the Rainbow: Amaya's maneuver. Rides over a wall in the path of a rainbow, placing one AT in front of the other to give the effect of a wider path caused by the wheels, making it look like the form of a rainbow. While doing this maneuver, she rides facing upward for it allows her to balance easier.

P.S: There is no mistake in the spelling. It is Figure THE Eight. NOT a typo.


	5. Shift Three: The Broken Wing

**Author's note: This is it. The final shift for this chapter and hell, it would be good! As I promised, Akio's and Shou's past, their connection with Tsubasa and Shin and one last little teaser, the revealing of a King! Not to mention you get a glimpse (actually, it's much more than a glimpse) at the power of the gun Regalia. (Opps, I've said too much.) To amxed, no, the wheels don't shatter every time Figure the Eight is used. It only shatters at high speed and when the eight the rider is riding is very small. This is the point where the most pressure is placed on the wheels.**

Gear Three, Shift Three: The Broken Wing

_There's no such thing as regret, only things you weren't able to do before and will have the chance to fix again._

"My name is Nika Ayesha and I'm going to be the next opponent. Just let me warn you, I'm the best there is beside Tsubasa. I mean, I bet I can take all of you on myself. I've only been riding ATs for a while but I've learned some pretty hard and dangerous moves too. What, you guys look like you've seen a ghost, you must be scared."

"What's with this girl?" Akio said.

"And how would I know." Amaya replied.

"Yeah, I mean she doesn't even realize Miu is behind her."

Miu had already ridden behind her opponent who turned looking in shock, getting a hard kick in the face which knocked her out cold.

"What a showoff." Miu muttered.

…_Tsubasa, I'm coming…_

_**XXX**_

They went up, steps after steps, finally coming to a door which creaked open to the roof. The light from the sun stung their eyes after spending much time in the building. The roof is a large empty space surrounded by fences. The sun has already started to set and the moon is rising in the distance.

"My name is Tsubasa Tadashi." A male teen said from the far end of the roof, his back turned on Shou and his friends.

"Tsubasa, it's me, Shou." Shou said.

Tsubasa shook a little at the name and slowly turn. They got their first good look of him. He was around Shou's age with short silver hair all ruffled up. The colors of his eyes were of mist. He dons a casual brown shirt with a picture of an eye and tapered jeans. His ATs were of silvery white. His wheels were placed like Shou's, two normal ones in the front and a ball-roller on the back.

"Shou…? I'm calling this battle off." He was obviously, agitated by this unexpected appearance.

"No you don't." Akio interrupted.

"Akio?" Amaya asked confused.

"Akio, you're here too?"

"Tsubasa," Shou said. "I don't understand. Why do you not want me to ride Air Trecks?"

"…"

"You two know this guy?" Miu asked.

"We go a long way back." Shou replied before turning his attention to his opponent again. "So Tsubasa, what's the reason?"

"After that incident…how could I allow you take that kind of risk for me again?" Tsubasa's voice was shaky and sounded as if he was about to throw up.

_That year, Air Trecks was still in their early stages. Anyone of our age then was not allowed to ride it. But still, we manage to get our hands on a pair. Hell, those were the days. We met Akio and Shin who were in the eighth grade._

_They were good with machines and gears and stuff and they told us they were making a Regalia prototype and wanted us to test it out. Turns out, they've been watching us ride and think our road is pretty suitable for the Regalia. _

_We were overjoyed and took their offer. Shou took the first test run but the Regalia got damage from pressure. He was going so fast. Hell I was jealous…_

_Once Akio and Shin fixed the Regalia, I took off with it, in the dead of the night. Racing against the wind and rain, I found myself enjoying the speed. What I didn't enjoy though, was when that truck came towards me. And Shou…he pushed me…he pushed me away and broke his wing._

"It happened ten years ago Tsubasa." Shou said suddenly.

"It's been that long already eh?"

"Yeah, it's been that long."

"God damn it Shou!" Tsubasa said fiercely. "Just…give up Air Trecks will you? I don't want…to see you lose another wing."

"You'll have to beat me first." Shou was emotionless at this point. "There's still things we must do."

"I'll do it alone then." Tsubasa replied, on the verge of tears. "But since you ask for it, I'll beat you into a bloody pulp first!"

"Shou…" Akio said. "He still has the Regalia."

"I know."

Shou charged forward and so did Tsubasa. Shou leaned left and placed his hand on the ground, allowing him to brake on the spot and letting his AT do the sliding for him. Like the cylinder of a revolver while it is being spun.

**Revolver's Cartridge Slide Kick**

Tsubasa saw it coming and jumped over him, landing on his roller wheel and twisting his body to face Shou before kicking off to charge at him again.

"That's the Recoil move!" Daichi exclaimed.

"That's right. They take the same road after all." Akio said. "But there is a difference."

As Akio said, there is a slight difference between the two Recoils. While one of the leg is executing recoil, the other will sort of glide in a circle. It slows down the turn but gives it much easier handling than Shou's one legged Recoil.

Tsubasa turned and charged at Shou who has gone for the fence. Shou jumped and implanted his roller-wheel into the fence and spun rapidly on the spot. As Tsubasa drew close, he kicked away from the fence into the air, still spinning very rapidly and came down on Tsubasa, attempting to land a kick on him. Tsubasa however, dodged it with a well placed Recoil move.

**Bullet Road Shou Special, Fence Plant to Revolving Recoil 3600 to Gravity Dropkick**

"I will take you down Shou if it will stop you from riding ATs." Tsubasa shouted as he rode slowly around in a circle.

"Don't be an idiot Tsubasa. It's been ten years." Shou said as he came to the centre of Tsubasa's circle, riding slowly in a small circle of his own. "I've been flying without wings for so long. You don't owe me anything, not anymore. You've already paid you dept."

Tears trickled from Tsubasa's eyes and he yelled. "YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HORRID I FEEL DO YOU!"

He came to a sudden stop, turning to face Shou; he raised his right leg extremely quickly.

"DON'T DO IT TSUBASA!" Akio shouted.

He sends his leg kicking at something unseen; at least, unseen by Miu, Daichi and Amaya for Shou reacted quickly, jumping into a flip and kicking back whatever Tsubasa shot at him.

**Right Core Regalia! Magnum Air!**

Tsubasa did a quick Revolving move and kicked it back at Shou. Whatever it was, it must have either missed or swerve away for the next thing they knew, Akio was doing a handstand in front of Amaya, kicking with his heels. The thing went to Tsubasa who kicked it again. Shou rushed over to it but missed his kick and the thing went towards Daichi. Akio was still unbalanced from his last move.

"No, Daichi!" Shou shouted.

A shadow flicked by and Shin Toma appeared in front of Daichi and kicked the thing out of the area into the sky.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Tsubasa?!" Shin yelled.

Tsubasa looked as though he was on the edge of breaking down. "I-I don't know. I guessed I overreacted."

Shou rode up to him. "I'll admit defeat Tsubasa, but I won't stop riding Air Trecks." His voice was serious.

Tsubasa looked up at him, a mixed of confusion and anger spread across his face. "But…why? I don't want you to get hurt again."

"Tsubasa, don't worry. You don't have to worry anymore. You've already paid your dept, with you your tears and broken wing."

"Are you sure?" Tsubasa said.

Shou nodded and a smile, "Get over it."

Tsubasa looked at him, he was reduced to tears. "You have not idea how long I've waited for you to say those three words." He fell over into Shou's outstretched arms, "The Stormers are hereby disbanded…" he muttered before passing out as his brain shut down for his long overdue rest.

"And you don't know how long I've waited to say them." Shou had trouble holding onto Tsubasa and he wobbled for a few seconds before Shin handed him one of his crutches.

"You still know that you'll lose your emblem." Shin said.

"That's fine." Shou said.

"How can that be fine?" Amaya asked, walking over with the group.

Shou stuck the Star Tracker emblem onto Shin's shirt and handed a plastic bag to Miu. Miu took a looked inside and smiled, placed her hand inside the bag and handed something to Daichi who also smiled before walking towards the door.

"So…" Amaya began. "Why did Tsubasa disband the Stormers?"

Shin replied, "He started the Stormers so Shou wouldn't join an Air Trecks team. We've been doing some really horrible underground work, getting rid of many other teams violently, but not deadly. By doing that, Tsubasa hoped to limit Shou's choice of joining a team. He knew Shou is still riding Air Trecks so he decided to discourage him little by little. I challenged your team today, not Tsubasa. I only asked for his permission to issue the challenge. Akio told me Shou was on your team and I thought the two of you should meet."

"But Shou knew of the Stormers and Tsubasa." Akio continued. "So he accepted the challenge without asking you guys. Tsubasa has been holding that long regret after Shou's incident for over ten years now. He has suffered a lot, trying to protect Shou from Air Trecks. And by seeing what Shou did today, I guess he found out he had nothing to protect him from anymore."

"I see…" Amaya said. "But what now, our team is no more."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Daichi said, walking back.

"Yeah, we've got a new team now." Miu said, pointing to the door at a team sticker of two revolvers in a cross with small letters scribbled in the centre.

"Yeah," Shou said. "we're the Duals now."

**Author's end note: All right, Gear Three is officially over. But there's more to come. I won't have much free time in the next one or two months so update might come slow. If there are any questions or anything, feel free to drop me an e-mail. Just head on to my profile and message me. **

Tricks

Revolver's Cartridge Slide Kick: Shou stops during a slide with his hands causing his AT to swing forward from the momentum.

Revolving Recoil 3600 (Fence): By placing his roller wheel in the fence, Shou can accelerate into a spin. Using the momentum gathered, he can kick away from the fence and deliver a powerful kick. It is Shou's strongest attack that doesn't involve special parts like Regalia. (Tsubasa can't do this move)

Magnum Air (Infinite Atmosphere of the Right Gun Regalia): Tsubasa's Regalia ability. The use of this ability will allow the Regalia to shoot out a powerful bullet like object the size of a tennis ball. (How this is done will be explained in later chapters) The execution of the shooting requires the rider to use the Recoil move to an excessive extend. In Tsubasa's case, it is required to allow him to raise his leg at an extremely fast speed by utilizing the speed gathered and rebound it back at the sudden brake. Over use of this move will cause in muscle cramps to the point of (the worst injury possible) the blood vessels bursting. (Shou can't do this move)


	6. Gear four: The Stolen Regalia

Gear Four: The Stolen Regalia

Akio's home…

Akio and Daichi were playing chess with Miu and Amaya scanning through the hundred over channels Akio have on TV. Akio's home is a simple two room apartment with nothing fancy except a bookshelf filled with books on mechanics.

"There's nothing good on!" Amaya complained, jamming continuously on the remote. "It's like all the good shows just disappeared."

"Speaking of disappear," Miu started. "Where's Shou?"

"He said he had a meeting." Akio replied.

"Maybe it's a girl." Daichi said.

Miu froze at the thought and was about to say something before the door opened and Tsubasa's familiar voice rang in.

"Akio, are you home? The door was unlocked so I thought-um… I'll be going now." Tsubasa said when he saw the Duals members.

"No it's ok Tsubasa, what's up?" Akio stopped him as he headed for the door.

"Well, Shin is out of town right now and the Right Core is starting to slow down so…" Tsubasa started.

Akio took hold of the Regalia and took a look at it. He gave a nod to Tsubasa before saying, "I see, take a seat, it won't take long."

**XXX**

"Are you the Gun King?" She asked.

"No, I'm not." Shin replied. He stood opposite her on the roof an old temple.

"Then leave. I have no business with you."

"You are Rika Noyamano are you not? May I ask why you're looking for the Gun King?" Shin said.

Rika Noyamano, the Thorn Queen. She is a tall woman with long red hair. A beautiful sight and an obvious desire for men everywhere. But Shin wasn't there to talk her into a date.

"Well, why are you looking for the Gun King?" Shin pressed on.

"It's none of your business." Rika replied.

"As his Tuner, it is my business. I'll ask again," Shin said; his voice stronger than before. "why, are you looking for him?"

Rika turned away and remained silent.

Shin sighed. "He won't help you with the Sleeping Forest." Shin said suddenly.

"Why not?" she continued, still with her back faced to Shin.

"Because, we don't follow anyone but ourselves."

**XXX**

People were running up and down the streets in a hurry like they usually do. Not paying attention to anyone they bump into and running off in the opposite direction. A few waved good morning or just to say hi and many others just stood at the same spot, waiting, for something or someone to come by.

A cloaked figure seemingly glided past everyone and turned into an old building, entered the escalator and exited on the last floor before proceeding to the roof by stairs. Coming out from the door, the stranger was met by Shou, leaning against the fence with his AT on. He was wearing short brown cargo pants and a black singlet with his white hoody.

"You…" Shou said, raising his head to look at the stranger.

"Me…" The stranger replied.

The two remained silent as a strong gush of wind blew through.

**XXX**

Akio sat down opposite Tsubasa on his recliner while Daichi sat with Tsubasa opposite and Miu and Amaya facing the television beside him.

"Akio, I have a question to ask you." Amaya said; switching off the television as the news reporter began her report on a recent mysterious murder.

"Yes?"

"Why is Tsubasa the Gun King?"

The question shocked everyone and seemed to have stung Akio and Tsubasa. Amaya had rarely acted so serious before.

"What do you mean?" Akio replied.

"I mean, it's clear that Shou has all the skills required to be King. He even surpasses Tsubasa. No offence." Amaya continued.

"Understandable." Tsubasa said.

There was a moment of silence before Akio spoke again. "The Regalia are made for a person with full use of the legs. And as we all know, no matter how talented Shou is, he can't cure his leg with a snap of his finger."

"Knowing Shou, he'll find a way to use it." Miu said.

"He already did." Tsubasa said. "He told me last night and I offered to give him the Regalia but he turned me down. Saying he would rather go find the stolen Regalia that is rightfully his."

"What stolen Regalia?!" Daichi exclaimed. "Isn't the one you have the only one there is?"

Tsubasa gave a deep sigh before continuing his explanation. Saying that the Regalia is actually a pair and other than himself, Akio, Shin and Shou was involved in making the Regalia; there was a girl by the name of Haruka Yumiko.

"She was always a little nut around the brain area." Akio commented. "So we kicked her off the team. She got pretty pissed and took the Left Core."

Akio continued that even though Shou and Tsubasa was extremely young back then, they were very talented and…

"We were dating." Akio finished.

Tsubasa had to resist a laugh and said that it was because of their talent that Haruka got jealous since Akio spends so much time helping them train.

He suddenly turns extremely serious. "And on the night of Shou's accident, Haruka stole the Regalia and went on a killing spree. She copied the Bullet Road by watching us."

"If I remember correctly, there was an incident ten years ago about a mass killing at a school nearby." Miu said.

"That's right." Akio replied. "That was Haruka. The police never caught her. Hell, they couldn't even link her to the crime. When Shin and I got there, we recognized the signs. No gunpowder but the students was shot by bullets. It was the Left Core which created bullets out of air and I'm being literal here."

"Those mysterious killings you've been hearing about on the news, was her as well." Tsubasa said.

"But that's impossible. Using the air as bullets?" Daichi said.

Akio took up Tsubasa's Right Core and showed a small hole in the front, no bigger than a pencil.

Akio began explaining. "Air enters through here and runs through the motors, increasing the speed. At the end of this tube, we designed it in such a way that allows air to constantly go round in a cycle. Kind of like a juicer. The molecules vibrate so quickly, it becomes a temporary solid."

"In order to get the bullet out," Tsubasa said. "one must use Recoil so extensively that it hurts. Trust me, I know. Using the recoil, I can lift my leg up at a super fast speed, forcing the bullet to come out and kicking it like a soccer ball."

"That's why we weren't able to see it back then. It was made of air. But how come you guys could and if it's a bullet, how can you just kick it like that?" Amaya asked.

Akio explained that their ATs were specially modified to withstand bullets. The Magnum Air however could easily pierce the skin. And the reason they could see it is because wherever the bullet is, there is a blur in the background.

They discussed the topic for quite awhile as they drank orange juice and ate cup noodles, except for Akio who drank beer. It was not until Miu asked how Shou found a way to use the Regalia did Tsubasa answered seriously again.

"Shou…he found… a new Road." Tsubasa said.

**XXX**

On the other side of town, Shou faced the cloaked stranger.

"Haruka, long time no see." He said.

Haruka took off her hood to reveal the crazed expression on her face. Her messed up brown hair and her face, still covered with the blood of her last killing. She started laughing madly.

**XXX**

And on Shin's side, he was receiving shocking news of his own.

"You may want to go find a friend of yours. Shou was it?" Rika said as Shin was about to leave.

"Why?" turned back to face her as she readies her news.

**XXX**

"He improved the Bullet Road and found how to ride in a way only he can." Tsubasa said.

"I'm still not following." Miu said; looking at him confused. It was true that the way Shou had been riding lately has been a little different, but for it to be an entirely different Road seems unlikely. You don't just change Roads like you change clothes.

**XXX**

"Shou, you have some nerve challenging me." Haruka said with a high pitched voice.

"The killing will stop now Haruka!" Shou yelled.

A rough wind blew.

The car below honked.

Their ATs roared.

**XXX**

"You're kidding me? She's here?" Shin exclaimed.

"That's right." Rika said, turning away from Shin.

**XXX**

"He didn't tell me much details but all he said was that it is one hell of a Road." Tsubasa continued, ignoring Miu's look of total confusion.

The rest have put down their noodles and were staring at him intensively as if they stare long enough, they would understand.

**XXX**

Rika jumped off the temple and rode away. Shin turned round and hurried off as well with a blazing look of anger on his face.

"I'm going to get you HARUKA!" Shin yelled as he jumped from roof to roof.

**XXX**

"A road only he can use?" Daichi asked.

Tsubasa looked up at them. "That's right, the Cycle Road."

**XXX**

Shou pointed to Haruka. "I'm taking back, MY PROOF AS A KING!"

**Author's note: The last part took a little while to do since I couldn't really decide how to execute it. But overall, I'm glad at how it turned out. If anyone still can't understand, just leave a review and I'll get back to you. Oh and by the way, if anyone can't make the connection here, Shin is Tsubasa's Tuner.**

No new tricks


	7. Gear five: Cyclone Awakening

**Author's note: Battle with Haruka and…a new king!**

Gear Five: Cyclone Awakening

Silence was brought about after Shou stated his intentions. After a minute of silence, Haruka finally spoke.

"Shou, Shou, Shou, do you really think you can beat me with that pathetic Bullet Road of yours?" Haruka said with a taunting voice.

"Of course I don't." Shou replied.

"And you still dare to challenge me, the Gun Queen!?"

There was silence again as the wind whispered through. A familiar voice rang out through Shou's head. Like a key just turned in that invisible lock in his head, Shou was ready for battle.

"I dare to, because I'm not a copy like you." Shou said, his eyes blazing. "And I made a promised to Arnold that I can never lose."

"Who's Arnold?" Haruka asked but Shou ignored her.

"I will show you, a Road which barrier has been broken by time. Haruka, prepare yourself!"

_The night before…_

"_Hey Arnold, are you home?" Shou yelled into his empty house. There was no reply and the place seems deserted. "I've brought dinner!" He yelled and this time, there was a distinct yell of joy._

_A fifteen year old Caucasian with black messy hair as if he just awoken from his sleep came running down the stairs excitedly. He nearly tripped on the last step but managed to hold his balance. He looked up and smiled, rubbing his dark blue eyes._

_Arnold Wyndham is an extremely talented and powerful Storm Rider who rides the Elemental Road. (To find out more about this Road, read Air Gear: Foreboding Wind by JamJackEvo)_

_Due to some extreme circumstances, he has come to live with Shou at his house for a while. Shou's parents are away and they have the place all to themselves._

"_What did you get me?" He asked as Shou handed him a red plastic bag which he eagerly opened. His smile faded once he saw what was inside. "Noodles again?_

_As the two finished their dinner while watching television, Arnold began to speak. "Shou, this Haruka, are you sure you're ready to face her? She has the Regalia you know."_

"_If you asked me this on the day you arrived, I'd say 'no'. But now, thanks to you, I'm sure I can win." Shou replied._

"_But are absolutely you sure you can win?" Arnold asked again._

_Shou looked up at the fan spinning on the ceiling. "I guess so. I mean, she is a copy. Anyway, she's to trap in the past and only change can beat that."_

"_I guess you're right. It's bad enough being a copy, but being trap by her own past, it's definitely not going to bode well for her." Arnold continued. "Beside, for something like this, it takes a cyclone to blow the past away…"_

_**XXX**_

Shin jumped from roof to roof, trying to find Shou and Haruka. His heart raced as he thought back to the past.

"Shou, you better save some for me!" He said out loud but was unheard of at the speed.

Just as he turned, he saw a blur in the sky. But he was too late. The Magnum Air from Haruka shot through his right leg and he fell from around two stories high onto a roof. He gasped from the pain of the fall and reached into his right pocket, took out his hand phone with painful effort and called Akio.

"Hello?" Tsubasa picked up on the other end of the line.

"Tsubasa, Haruka is here in the city." Shin said; his voice showed great agony. "A Magnum Air came from north of the shopping mall. I think Shou is fighting her."

On Tsubasa's side of the line, he could be heard telling the rest to go find Shou and Shin.

**XXX**

Shou dodged the first Magnum Air and was met by another. He sent it back with a back flip kick with heavy efforts and nearly landed on his head. Haruka dodged the bullet and jumped off the roof. Shou followed suit with freefall. Haruka was already at the bottom, in positioned and unleashed another Magnum Air. Shou ends his fall with a Shotgun Brake. The force of the air dispersed the bullet and thrown Haruka back.

"You may call yourself a Queen," Shou said. "but you're only a fake copy."

Haruka, angered by that, charged in with a yell and a kick. Shou dodged the unfocused attack with ease and countered with a punch. Haruka, seeing she was outmatched, raced off through the alley in an attempt to escape grabbing the area of her stomach where Shou's punch landed.

"Don't even think about it!" Shou yelled and went after her.

Haruka entered a long alley filled with trash and puddles of water. She maneuvered through them with ease but Shou was having a hard time turning.

"_He can't catch me now."_ Haruka thought. _"With my legs and this Regalia, my speed is ten times faster than him. He will never catch up."_

She was shocked when she turned to see Shou riding the wall with the Shot Ride, not to mention his speed matched her own. The wind which would have usually blown his hair back was messing it up, seemingly coming from both the front and the back.

**Shot Ride upgrade, Cyclone Shot Ride**

"How can you even catch up to MY Regalia?!" Haruka shouted the question.

"This is the power of the Cycle Road." Shou said with a smirk.

He jumped off the wall once he passed her and sent her a kick, using his waist as the pivot for the attack. The kick hit her right in her abdomen.

"How can…a k-kick be so…p-powerful?" She coughed out.

Next thing she knew, she was sent flying backwards even with the speed at which she rode. She managed to land on her ATs with a badly forced smile. But it soon turns into shock as Akio appeared behind her.

"This is for dumping me!" He shouted, spinning fast in the air, stopping when his left leg touched the ground. He transferred the momentum from the spin and used it to deliver a powerful upper kick which sends Haruka to an awaiting Tsubasa who reached an extreme height in the air with his new Protocore Duo.

**Akio special, Dropkick Drill 1800 to Kick to Sending Air**

"This is for stealing the Regalia!" Tsubasa yelled and sends Haruka to Shou with a front flip heel kick.

**Air Trecks upgrade, Protocore Jump**

_The Cyclone will blow you away…_

Shou was spinning on the ground at an extremely fast speed till he became a blur. His voice sounded like a loud whisper of a spirit. "And this is for being butt ugly!" He ends it with a powerful right punch and with all his strength, plus the speed of the spin, sends Haruka crashing into the wall.

**Cyclone Road top three, Cyclone Hammer 18000**

"The cops will be coming soon." Tsubasa said; approaching Shou who was taking off Haruka's left AT.

"Alright then, let's go." He stood up and Akio stuck a sticky note on Haruka's head. "What's that for?"

"A note explaining to the cops what's been happening." Akio stood up and Shou saw 'happy birthday' written on it which gave him a laugh.

**XXX**

That night, everyone gathered around Shin's hospital bed with food and drinks and lots of present. It was a happy occasion. At least, it was to Shin, Akio, Tsubasa and Shou.

"Finally we can bid goodbye to the past and welcome the future!" Shin gave a toast and was followed by the others.

They watched the news as they reported the capture of Haruka with glee followed by another capture of Masaru being found in the ocean by the coast guards.

"Serves him right after what he did." Akio said.

The rest laughed as the police threw Masaru into a van in a straight jacket while he shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to cause a time warp.

"To bad Arnold isn't here huh!" Miu said.

"Yeah, he would laugh his brains out. But he'll be here later though, so no worries." Shou replied.

"By the way Shou," Shin said. "How did you catch up with the Left Core?"

Shou went on explaining the Cycle Road. With the shifting of position in his legs, it causes a vacuum in between his right leg and left leg. The wind hits the right leg which is positioned in front of the left, spreading it out in a V-shape. This creates a sort of empty space in between. After a while, the space will be completely void of air since the air passing by acts like a wall. Like when you open the door of a space craft in space, air gets suck out. So, the empty gap acts like a vacuum, sucking in air from the only place left available which is the back. The wind from the back pushes the rider forward and the faster the rider goes, the stronger the vacuum gets.

"So we got another reason to celebrate, Shou finding a new Road." Amaya stated.

"Now I understand why you asked me to fix the Regalia onto your AT backwards. Since the wind of the Cycle Road comes in from the back as well, you can gather air even with the Regalia facing behind you." Akio said.

"You know Shou, now that you have your own Regalia, you are technically a King." Tsubasa said.

"I guess I am." Shou said.

"So what kind of King are you?" Daichi asked.

"I don't know, what name do you guys think would be good?"

"The Bike King?" Amaya said, fully serious.

"You're joking right?" Akio said.

"The Tornado King?" Daichi suggested.

"Too long. Besides, it sounds horrible." Tsubasa replied.

"I know," Miu started. "the Cyclone King of the Cycle Road."

"That," Shou said. "doesn't sound half bad."

**Author's end note: Review would seriously be good. A special surprise in this gear if some have noticed. (Cough, crossover, cough)**

Tricks

Dropkick Drill 1800 to Kick: A Dropkick Drill ending before hitting the opponent and into a powerful upper kick.

Protocore Jump: Tsubasa's newly installed Protocore Duo allows him to jump five times higher than he originally could.

Cyclone Hammer 18000: The wind coming from both front and back of Shou pushes his spin. Even without using Revolving Recoil, he can accelerate. This pushes his spins to the point where he looks like a spot of blur. Ends with a powerful rib crunching punch to the opponent. Shou's third strongest attack.

Cyclone Shot Ride: A faster version of Shot Ride.


	8. Gear six: The Calling Sky

**Author's note: Filler…yeah…that's about it.**

Gear Six: The Calling Sky

A piece of crumpled up paper came in Miu's direction. Looking left and right to make sure the teacher is not looking, she opened it up.

_I'm bored. Nobody has challenged us for days. Want to go grab a bite later?_

_-S.K_

"A bite!" Miu screamed in her head. "As in on a date?!"

She quickly scribbled down her answer the same paper and made sure the teacher wasn't looking before throwing it back at Shou's direction.

A few minutes later, the paper came flying back.

_Alright, we'll meet at Hermes at two. Oh and bring your Air Trecks, I want to show you something later._

Her heart jumped with joy. She knew Shou thought they were just going out like friends. Maybe she can finally change the guy way of thinking. She needs to go back and take her ATs and change into something more…suitable.

**XXX**

"It's already two thirty and she's still not here." Shou grumbled to himself.

He stood sitting on a bench outside Hermes Restaurant. It's a fast food joint near their school and is quite popular around the place. The large sign though, is a complete waste of electricity as even in the morning and afternoon, the giant neon sign with their famous motto, 'Quick and Steady!' is still on.

Shou was debating on whether Miu has forgotten and was thinking about whether to leave when the same girl landed beside him.

Shou gasped as he took a look at her. She wasn't wearing her usual clothes. She was wearing a blue customized version of their school uniform with a small pink bow at the end of each sleeve. Along with the frilly brown miniskirt of hers, she looks _really cute_. It seems she has also decided to dye back her hair to her natural color of light brown.

Shou stared at her for a few good seconds before snapping out of the trance. Compared to his usual white hoody and blue jeans, Miu seems to really stand out.

"That hair suits you. I like this color better." Shou quickly put in after realizing that he has been staring for nearly half a minute making Miu blush cherry red.

"Come on, let's go." Shou said.

Miu look at him confused. "Aren't we eating here?"

"No way, as a gentleman, I must treat a lady like you with at least something decent." Shou said and went into a bow while holding his crutch with his right hand and extending out his left.

Miu giggled and reached out for the outstretch hand. "Ok then, if you say so Mr. Gentleman."

Shou smiled and raced off before jumping onto the roof. Miu swiftly followed.

_I didn't know Shou could ride Air Trecks with his crutch._

The two ate at the sushi restaurant where Akio works. It seems that Shin broke Akio's AT wheels and is paying back by taking his shift. So luckily, instead of a rule strict Akio, Shou and Miu got discount on their meal. They chatted about ATs and school work though Shou may have slept through the later part, with Shin slipping them a plate of free sushi or two every now and then at the expense of the other customers.

"Hey Rashi, you missed out order two again!" Shin would shout to the cook's frustration.

After they paid for the meal, Miu and Shou bid goodbye to Shin and headed off.

"Hey Shou," Miu started.

"Hmm?"

"You said you wanted to take me to see something didn't you?"

"Yeah, but it isn't the right time yet, let's go to the arcade first." Shou replied dreamily.

"Um…ok."

**XXX**

"Yoz!"

"Hiya!"

The two greeted Shou and Miu as they entered the arcade.

"It's Nobu and Nanami! Long time no see!" Shou hopped over on his left feet to the two in waiting.

They challenged each other to a few rounds of Daytona in which Shou totally trashed everyone. His laughter was so loud the manager had to come and stop him, saying he was louder than the machines. After a few more rounds of Street Fighters and Dance Dance Revolution, in which Shou totally embarrassed himself, the four headed out to benches outside the arcade for some air.

"So…" Shou began while poking Nobu with a look of evil across his face. "You and Nanami are like a couple now right?"

"Yeah…"

"How was it hey?"

"We…haven't got that far yet. Heh heh." Nobu gave a nervous laugh.

"Are you and Shou dating now?" Nanami asked Miu on the other side of the bench.

"W-What, no, we're just going out as friends. That's all." Miu stuttered.

…_**Awkward…**_

The two pairs went their separate ways at around six. At that time, Shou asked Miu to put on her ATs so he can show her the thing he was talking about.

**XXX**

They arrived in an empty field just outside of town. There was nothing there. Right after the road that let to the area, it was just miles and miles of flowers and grass. It didn't use to be this beautiful though; in fact, it was once a place people would avoid at all cost.

"Why did you bring me here?" Miu said suddenly.

"I thought that maybe you would like to see the view here." Shou replied smiling.

"You're lying. I can tell." By now, Miu has started to cry.

"…You didn't remember me three years ago when I met you in school, so I thought I found the wrong person. But when I asked Amaya about it, I knew it was you." Shou said.

"What are you talking a-!" Miu stopped before she could finish.

"I see you remembered."

_That's right. Back when I was only ten or so, I was always bullied all because I was the top student in class. It was hell everyday. That night, five years ago, the boys in my class thought it would funny to pull some prank on me. They wrote a note, saying that they got Amaya at this field._

_Back then; this place was a real dump, a gathering spot for gangsters and thieves, criminals and disgraceful storm riders. There were no flowers back then. The place was like a desert littered with cigarettes and condoms and the drunken bastards who have decided to make this place their second home._

Without realizing it, Miu has already fallen to her knees, crying her heart out.

_When I reached there, I found out Amaya wasn't kidnapped at all. But it was too late. I scolded those gangsters, big mistakes. They punched me and knocked me to the ground. There was laughter, dark heatless laughs. When they started unbuttoning my shirt, I cried and closed my eyes to prepare for the worst. _

_Next, I heard the sounds of motors and wheels. Punching and kicking and screaming. Someone fell, not far from me with a loud thud. When all was quiet, I opened my eyes but my tears clouded my vision. A person stood over me and under the moon light, he looked like an angel of shadow. What he said, I could not forget._

"_Stop crying. If you keep crying, your tears will cloud up your vision. If that happens…"_

"Hey Miu," Shou said suddenly, snapping the girl out of her flashback. "do you remember what I said to you that night.?"

Miu nod and looked up, this time, she made sure she wiped her eyes dry.

Shou gave a thumb up at chest level to point at the sky just like five years ago.

"_If that happens_…you won't be able to see the sky…"

No new tricks


	9. Gear Seven: Clock, Time In

**Author's note: I know some people placed this story on favorite and alerts so would those people, PLEASE leave a review. **

Gear Seven: Clock, Time Out

_I wonder what's up with that clock. The needle never seems to move, at all. It's just stuck there, at eight twenty eight. _

Shou and Akio stood outside Higachu Junior High, waiting for Tsubasa's lesson to finish. He stared up at the frozen clock up at the tower which needle has stopped moving. Akio is carrying a guitar case on his back.

"Time hasn't stopped yet Shou." Akio said suddenly.

While gazing up at the clock, time seems to have stopped in the teens mind.

"Hey what are you two doing here, you two some kind of pervert!?" A man came running towards them holding a large kendo stick.

"Hey wait a minute; we're just waiting for our friend, that's all!" Shou yelled an explanation while dodging the mad blows.

The man introduced himself as Orihara Masaya, a teacher of Higachu Junior high. At first, he was reluctant to believe what Shou and Akio said, still thinking they are perverts, stating if Shou is really only fifteen, why isn't he in class where Shou replied saying his school got half day off. After a few minutes of intense staring, swearing and sudden unexpected and untranslatable yelling, Orihara finally calmed down enough to leave the two alone. But before he left, Shou had something he wanted to ask.

"Um…Orihara sensei?" Shou asked nervously.

"Hmm?"

"Why is that clock not moving?"

"Oh that…" The teacher paused for a few moments. "Well, last time, there was this student who was always late."

"He sounds like he's telling a fairytale." Shou thought.

Orihara continued with an annoyed cough. "A teacher over here used Air Trecks to get all the way up there and jammed the clock so the student would never be late."

"Is the student still studying here?" Shou asked.

"Yes she is."

"So why no one have come to fix the clock?"

"The place is too high. Besides, this way, that student won't be late anymore."

"Shou," Akio said rather suddenly, throwing him a spare AT wheel from his bag. "Whatever is jamming that thing won't last long. You better go change it. It seems that it means a lot to the old geezer."

"Old geezer?!"

"Right." Shou relied calmly.

When the teacher asked how Akio was able to know that, he just replied, "I have my ways."

Shou positioned himself a good distance from the clock tower before rushing off towards the wall. The wind blew past his hair as he drew a deep breathe of joy. He connected with the wall perfectly and headed straight up at an amazing speed. But only with the power of one AT and the Regalia parts, Shou lost the battle against gravity and weight and begin to slow down. He used Revolving Recoil to accelerate up before his speed could reach zero.

_This is easy._

Just as he reached out his hand to grab onto the small door which will lead inside the clock tower, his wheels lost friction and he slipped, falling six stories down.

_Darn it, lost concentration there. I can't stop falling!_

"Hey Shou!" Shou turned to see Tsubasa, out of class and wearing on his right leg, is one of Akio's ATs. He kicked his leg backwards and then forward, and placed them on the ground while the two wheels ran in opposite direction. He Recoil his right leg on the spot which rose up quickly. "If you can't keep riding, then you shouldn't even try to speed up." He said with a smile, sending his leg down onto the small ball of air, whirling on the ground, kicking it towards Shou.

**Bullet Road Special, Alternate Magnum!**

_Haha, that's right Tsubasa, thanks._

Shou saw the bullet coming at him, and placed the back of his AT right in its path. The Regalia absorbed the air and Shou pushed himself towards the wall, bursting up and disappearing through the door of the clock.

"Hey Orihara sensei!" Shou shouted through the hole.

"What is it?!"

At the moment when Shou pulled out the wheel jammed in the clock and switched it with a new one, the needle moved by one minute.

"Why does this wheel here have your name on it?"

**XXX**

"Whoa, is this guy serious?" Daichi exclaimed while looking over the Parts Wars website.

"Man, it's a good thing Shou and Akio are not here. They'll freak if they see this." Miu said.

It is so rare for anyone to be able to enter Amaya's house, or in this case, mansion. That's right, Amaya lives in a two story mansion, complete with indoor swimming pool, a large maze like garden out back, an arcade in the basement, a gym and a large fountain out front. The group is inside Amaya's room, filled with posters of boy bands and large stuff toys. They were using her computer to check on battle they can participate since after the Stormers battle, they dropped back down to F-Class.

Shou came in along with Akio. Tsubasa stayed downstairs with Shin and Amaya to carry the drinks. Akio took a sit on Amaya's bed and Shou peeked over Miu to see if they made any progress.

Miu hit enter and sent a message to an F-Class team called Home Wreckers, saying they accept their challenge.

"You guys have lots of guts issuing a challenge like that." Shou said.

Miu and Daichi exchange puzzled looks. Turning back to the screen, they realized they've sent the message to the wrong team.

"OH MY GOD!" Miu screamed upon reading who they've sent it to.

A D-Class team known as the Two-Stepper, most known for never having lost a tag team match will be their opponent. The condition of the battle, five rounds of two on two cube battles. Each team member can battle twice but never with the same partners. The battle will be in two days time at the harbor, the Two-Stepper's home ground.

"Oh boy, you guys are in trouble. We don't have enough members." Shou stated.

"What do you mean?" Miu asked.

"Seeing Shin is still out of action after Haruka's little air trick and Akio and I have something important to do on that day, you guys will only have enough members for four battles." Shou explained.

"What could be so important that you would leave us like this?" Daichi said angrily.

Shou took the mouse and clicked on the back button. He scrolled up the page to the article Miu and Daichi was reading a few minutes ago.

_Name: Flame King Spitfire and Pledge Queen Ine Makigami_

_Ante: Flame Regalia for other Regalias_

_Time and place: West Side Mall roof top at twelve noon._

_Rules: Two on two_

At the bottom was a smaller line which Daichi and Miu missed out.

_Battle accepted by: Shou Kenta and Akio Isamu_

Tricks

Alternate Magnum: A technique usable by both Shou and Tsubasa. The rider starts off by swinging the leg backwards to start the back wheel and make it rotate in reverse, than slide back forward and starting the front wheel. The wind during the second 'slide' wheel get trap in between the wheels, forming a small ball similar to the air within the Twin Cores. By using a Recoil move, and kicking, similar to the Magnum Air, the user can unleash the ball. The ball however, isn't as strong as the Magnum Air and will disperse after a distance into a powerful gust of wind.


	10. Gear eight, Shift one: Flame, Time Out

**Author's note: I got a message saying if Akio is Shou's tuner, how come they acted as if they've never met back in Gear One. If readers remember correctly, Akio was the one who insisted on letting Shou raced for them. Anyways, in this chapter, it'll be the first time a special something will be mentioned. See if you can spot it.**

Gear Eight, Shift three: Flame, Time In 

A.K.A; Tuner-King Battle

_Everything is in motion and every motion is in place. Are you ready, to take on the oppressor of wind?_

The day of the battle…

The redhead stood on the roof, awaiting the arrival of his opponent. The heavy afternoon sun beat down on him yet not a trickle of sweat was seen on his face. Beside him, stood a female of around the same age, her blue hair tied up in two coils. He wore a black jacket and dark blue pants in the blistering heat and she was wearing a tight green suit usually worn by mechanics and carried a large tool box with her.

"Pledge Queen Ine Makigami and Flame King Spitfire, long time no see." Akio said, appearing from behind. He wore a stunning black tuxedo with a matching tie, seemingly to have just gotten off work but have his favorite chain belt with him. He didn't have his cap with him that day so his snow white hair blended in with his black outfit perfectly.

"Where's your friend Akio? They've been calling him the Cyclone King lately. Is he really that good to be recognized as a King?" Spitfire replied, turning to face him.

"I see you've bought your guitar." Ine pointed out to the case on Akio's back.

Akio took a quick look at his case and smiled. "Well, we're battling against two Kings. Not to mention they're Gravity Child. And Ine, you really need to dye back your hair. That color just doesn't suit you." He said cheerily as if they were having a friendly chat over breakfast.

"There should be some other reason why you called us out. I mean, experience riders such as you two won't just bet Regalias for the fun of it." Shou said, landing beside Akio. He was wearing his trademark white hoody as usual with casual black jeans. "You guys must be looking for Kings. Mind I ask what for?"

"It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Sleeping Forest now would it?" Akio added in.

"You sure are a sharp one." Spitfire said, mostly directed to Shou. "No it has nothing to do with us. But, I want to battle you first before I tell you."

**XXX**

They were led through a small dark alley way by a man who only introduced himself as Conon whose face was covered with a blue bike helmet with a sticker of their team emblem. A jump rope coiled up, leaving a small space in the centre where the team name was written in. They passed through a door into a building which smelled of cigarettes and drugs, finally reaching a door at the end which leads to more alleys. After what seems like hours, the group reached an empty lot where seven men and two women were waiting. They were all wearing bike helmets similar to Conon's.

"Welcome," one of them said, taking off his helmet, revealing his scar across the left eye and a green bandana. "I'm Jason, nice to meet you. You know the rules right? So I'm not going to explain any further. Who are going to be in your first team?"

"Jason huh, what are you a foreigner or something?" Amaya asked half mindedly.

Jason gave a short laugh. "No, I'm no foreigner. My mom just got a thing for English names. And if you're wondering, I and Conon," He points to Conon who have taken off his helmet. "are your next opponent."

Conon is around his late teen. With his face bruised with marks of past fights. He too, wears a bandana but his is blue.

"So what do you think Tsubasa?" Miu asked the King.

Tsubasa had chosen to wear a black zipped up jacket today with white track pants.

"Judging by their ATs, they've most likely have been riding the longest." Tsubasa said, huddling the Duals in a small circle so their opponents can't hear them. "Our best should take them on."

"So should I partner you then?" Miu suggested.

"No," Tsubasa replied. "I'll go with Shin."

Everyone turned, including the opposing team members, to look at Shin who has taken a chair and took a sit in the corner of the lot, listening to an MP3 with lots of knobs and buttons. His right leg still in wrapped up in a bandage. He took off his headphones and answered with a cheerful, "Yes?"

"I said I'll be partnering you!" Tsubasa yelled out loud.

"You're kidding right?" Jason asked,

"No, we're quite serious."

**XXX**

Spitfire and Shou charged at each other with such speed that they disappeared upon acceleration and only reappeared upon impact. Akio and Ine hung back, Akio taking out his guitar. It was an electric guitar colored metallic blue and the neck, a metallic white. There were eight strings compared to the normal six and twelve tuning keys at the headstock. The design was a V-shape with a black screen in between the gap of the V.

"You're not using your Regalia?" Akio asked Ine.

"I don't see the point. A Gravity Child's Regalia don't need tuning."

Shou attacked with a Cartridge Slide which Spitfire dodge with a quick turn. He activated his Flame Regalia, lighting a flame at his heel, riding round Shou in a circle, trapping him in a cage of flame.

**Flame Road, Flame Typhoon**

_Let's see you get out of that one._

Within the flames, Shou kicked himself off the ground and did a back flip on the spot, followed by a second. During the second one, he kicked a ball of air similar to the Magnum Air up to the sky. Unlike the Magnum air however, it whizzes around in a spiral, opposite to the direction of the flames which slowly died down.

**Left Core Infinite Atmosphere, Spirale Air**

"I see why they call you a King." Spitfire commented.

"I've got more than that up my sleeves." Shou replied. "I'll beat you up good."

"We'll see about that. Ine!"

Spitfire jumped back to where Ine stood and swung his legs at her but missed her intentionally. Ine's hands seems to flash for a moment before Spitfire landed from his kick and burst of the starting line, a large burst of flames followed behind him. He jumped into a flip and Shou wasn't able to dodge as he sends a burning leg down at him. Upon touch, there was a loud explosion and Shou was engulfed in a ball of flame which spat him out and straight into the wall of the building opposite.

**Meteor Fall**

Most of Shou's clothes were burned and his skin was red. His jean has large holes in them and blood was dripping from his head. He managed to grab onto the edge of a window and swings himself back up onto the roof top.

"That wasn't half bad." Shou coughed, wiping the blood from his face. He stuck out his right hand and to Spitfire's shock, his white hoody came floating back down unburned onto his awaiting hand. Now, all that was covering his body was a slightly burned black shirt.

"You managed to react to that attack." Spitfire said. "You threw your hoody up right before the kick hit you."

"What did you put on Spit's Air Trecks?" Akio asked Ine.

"Bombs," Ine replied calmly. "small ones which I attached to his springs, rig to explode upon compression. The heat from his Regalia made the outer shell soft enough to be pressed."

"I see." Akio said. He swung out his guitar and strums all eight of the strings, then went to turn two of the tuning keys and gave a thumb up to Shou. "Will you be switching Gears?"

"After seeing that performance, there won't be a need to." Shou replied calmly.

**XXX**

Tsubasa was lead through the door by Conon and Jason with Shin leaning against him for support.

"Are you sure you don't want to change members? It isn't to late…yet." Jason asked.

"It's fine." Tsubasa replied, helping Shin into a corner.

Shin sat down and took out his MP3 again and began listening to it.

They were in a large room, more like a lobby of sort with all windows barred up. Suddenly, the lights turned on and Tsubasa and Shin got a good look of the place. The main door, made of glass has been bared up from the outside and right in front of it is a crescent reception desk made of marble, same as the floor. To the right is a spiral staircase leading up to ten meters before disappearing into the ceiling. Further right holds what seems like two elevator doors all barred up.

The left holds the place where they entered from and a ramp which leads to another landing ramp. Beside that there's a six by nine meters half pipe and a tunnel which enters directly from the end of the half pipe and out near the reception table. White patches on the floor suggested there where other things placed there but has been removed some time ago. There were six pillars, two at the right, two at the centre and two at the left which reaches the ceiling.

"This battle will be over before it even started!" Conon yelled. He had already charged in for an attack while Tsubasa surveyed the surroundings.

But all Tsubasa did was glided backwards and the punch completely missed him.

"You don't think they called me a king for my good looks did you?" Tsubasa said coolly with a wink.

Conon stumbled but regained his feet. He charged forward and attempted a slide while from behind, Jason attacked high. Tsubasa again, glided back. He bends over and Jason missed completely, flying over the rider. After that, he immediately jumped and Conon missed as well.

"The best tag Storm Rider team, don't make me laugh."

Jason spat at the ground and took a look around the room for anything he can use. That's when he spot Shin in the corner and made a rush for him. Conon also went after him.

"I knew you guys were dirty but I didn't know you were this dirty." Tsubasa said, appearing in front of Jason from out of nowhere. "Now you've finally given me a reason to use this." He continued, directing the sentence to his Regalia.

He kicked his right leg backward with plenty of force and the wheels spun with loud velocity. Air was seen entering the Regalia and out of fear, Conon and Jason charged at him, hoping to get Tsubasa while he was distracted.

Shin was concentrated on the music he was listening to as his fingers turned the knobs and pressed the buttons on his MP3 with ferocious speed. Tsubasa's wheels turned faster and he lifted his leg up, releasing the bullet before sending it back down again. The air bullet was much larger than any of its previous incarnation.

"Are you ready for this?!" Tsubasa yelled. "Shotgun Air!

Multiple bullets penetrated both Jason and Conon's body, sending them flying backwards into a pillar and the reception desk respectively.

**Shin-Tsubasa Tuner-King Special, Shotgun Air**

_Bang! This battle is over._

**XXX**

_The cyclone will blow you away…_

Shou has gotten in front of Akio and back to back, started to do The Flare, a breakdance move where he supports his body with his arms, swings his legs around his stationary torso in continuous circles. Air is gathered in his Regalia and released every rotation, causing a continuous barrage of Spirale Air. Akio behind, constantly playing his guitar and tuning it with a quick hand.

**Akio-Shou Tuner-King special, Gatling Air**

"If he keeps this up, that Regalia will burn out for sure." He thought after dodging a shot. After a few minutes, the barrage continued. "It should have worn out by now. Unless…"

"I surrender!" Spitfire shouted suddenly and the barrage came to an immediate stop.

"What gives?" Shou said while sitting up.

"You're guitar, it can tune the Regalia from a distance right?" Spitfire asked Akio.

"Wireless Tuning Equipment. Me and Shin's proudest achievement." Akio replied.

"If that's the case, I've lost and like I promised, I'll tell you why I asked you here."

"Don't you think that was very anti-climatic?" Shou asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought I was doing a pretty good job at owning your ass good so why stop now?" Shou was quite disappointed. He gave a sigh, "Anyway, did you see how I got up that wall just now."

"Shou," Spitfire said coolly. "I'M SORRY BUT I HAD MY BACK TURNED."

In the quiet corner, Ine was giving silent chuckles. "Idiots."

**Author's end note: I know the battle with Jason and Conon was kind of shot but it'll all be explained in the next Shift.**

Tricks

Flame Typhoon: With the activation of the Flame Regalia, Spitfire can create a large burst of flame at his heels. By riding around an opponent in a circle, it can create a sort of flame typhoon, trapping the enemy in the centre.

Spirale Air: Same concept as the Magnum Air except that the Cyclone Road's wind is much stronger, making the wind of the bullet spins more violently, allowing it to spin, twirl, turn and ricochet off object.

Meteor Fall: A team effort attack in which Ine quickly equips Spitfire's ATs with a small bomb. The outside layer of the bomb will slowly melt upon heating and explode upon compression. This attack comes from above with a kick.

Shotgun Air: A more intense version of the Magnum Air. The wheels have to be off the ground and spinning backwards. This activates a vacuum within the Regalia. The air inside it spins at an accelerated rate. This places heavy strains on the Regalia unless it is constantly being tuned by the tuner. When the kick is connected, the air bullet bursts and separates into many smaller bullets, creating a shogun effect. This is the second out of the six variations of Tsubasa's Regalia's Infinite Atmosphere. Hazards in doing this will be if the kick is not strong enough, the bullet will burst right in front of the user.

Gatling Air: By performing The Flame, a breakdancing move that swings the legs round the body while being supported by the arms, the Regalia can gather, release and fire Spirale Airs in quick succession. In every rotation, air is gathered when the feet faces the opposite direction of the swing. At the end of the rotation, the old bullet left in midair from the previous round is kicked away with the front of the feet and a new bullet is fired from the end. Constant firing of the Regalia will cause it to burn out quickly, thus constant tuning is needed. Like before, this is Shou's second of the six variations. Note that this move is very draining of the user.


	11. Shift two: The One Percent Finding

_Can you not hear the wind crying?_

Gear Eight, Shift Two: The One Percent Finding

_The thing is Shou, Akio…_

Tsubasa stormed out of the door, a blazing look of anger swept over his face. Shin, struggled through as Daichi and Amaya rushed up to help him.

_What we're facing right now, is something much bigger than anyone could have guessed._

"Tsubasa, you ok?" Miu asked in concerned, Tsubasa passing by her without as much of a glimpse.

_Spitfire, you'd better not be joking about this._

"You're a pretty clever girl aren't you?" Tsubasa walked up to a female Two-Stepper standing at the entrance to the lot. She was wearing a navy blue jeans and a tight grey shirt along with the same blue bike helmet as the others. "All this time standing there and I didn't even noticed you. I'm ashamed of myself."

_If what you say is true, we'll have to act now._

The female remove her helmet, flinging her long golden hair to straighten them up. She looks as if she was in her early twenties.

_Not now._

Tsubasa grabbed her by her shirt and lifted her off the ground. "What I wouldn't give to put a Magnum through your head right now!"

_They're in a trap, sown by the warden himself._

"Gun King Tsubasa Tadashi, how nice it is to see you again." The girl replied calmly, smiling all the while. "Do you remember me?"

_The time will come when we make a break from his cage._

"How could I forget, Fang Queen, Lucia Miller." Tsubasa said; his eyes filled with hatred.

_For now, we'll wait to be captured._

Lucia smiled and said in a seductive tone. "You're friends were quite tasty no?"

_For now, go help your friends. They're in trouble. I'll help you, don't worry._

Tsubasa dropped the female. "Bet your Regalia, I'll be sending you home in a body bag!"

**XXX**

"Tsubasa, what's going on man?" Daichi came up, as surprised as the others.

"This girl is Lucia Miller from the U.S and she's the current Fang Queen." Tsubasa said, still eying Lucia who was picking herself up. "She…killed two of my former team mates when we went to the U.S one month ago, a week before our battle with you."

"She doesn't look half bad for a blood thirsty killer." Daichi said, scanning the girl with a sly look who smiled back sweetly. It sent a chill down Daichi's spine however.

Tsubasa kept his serious look. "She used a sly tactic to judge our strength just then."

"What?"

"She used parts that look scratch and old to make Jason and Conon look like they've been riding for a long time. They acted like scouts, judging whether we were strong."

"How does she judge that?" Miu asked.

Tsubasa continued, "If we've sent our weakest member, which would be the usual tactic, showing we did not notice the parts and branding us as weaklings. If we did notice, the parts and sends in our best riders, we would be branded as professionals. What they do after they've figure that out, is entirely their choice. Most likely, she has already planned out what would happen after this. It's the same as last time. She's just playing with our mind."

"Very good my dear Tsubasa." Lucia said seductively. She pointed to two members of the team standing at the corner, issuing them the order of going next.

Tsubasa stepped forward, eager to get his revenge on the team but Miu grabbed hold of him, telling him to remember the lack of manpower they have and Tsubasa backed down. After being told of the field, Daichi and Amaya stepped forward, eager for their turn at them and they proceeded after their opponents to the door.

When the door closed behind them, Amaya and Daichi left their mouths hanging wide open as if they open long enough, a fly might go in.

"W-What the hell is this?!" Daichi exclaimed. "I thought this was going to be a hotel lobby!"

The area they were in was as large as the lobby that Tsubasa and Shin described but every single item that was suppose to be there wasn't. No reception table, no glass door, no spiral stairs, none of it. The room was made entirely out of metal. The material was left with scratches from previous battles and the light came from tubes at every corner of the room. A pole extended from the right led all the way up to the ceiling where a door, similar to what you find on a submarine was placed. There were also two metal rails suspended parallel to each other in mid air from one side of the room to the other, trapping the pole in between them. And to their right, something which looks like a large metal sliding door you see in sci-fi films is placed into the wall and nothing more. Two large tunnels were also suspended around three meters above the ground in the centre. Cameras were placed at a few nook and cranny and from what they could tell; they could capture the entire room on screen.

"I could get use to this place." Amaya said, obviously stating the fact that this area was perfect for her. Daichi on the other hand, is not really happy about it.

**XXX**

"Shou, do you mind going on without me?" Akio ask as Shou was about to leave the scorched rooftop.

"What's the matter?"

"I and Ine here have some catching up to do."

Shou reluctantly agreed and Spitfire left without even asking.

"You see right through me again." Ine said once the area is cleared. "I've never had anyone else who could listen to sounds of the hearts as closely and accurately as you two do. You guys would have done well as the next Pledge King, well, one of you at least."

Ine started pacing around the roof, something which was rarely seen of her. She seems flustered and Akio could clearly understand why.

_Both me and Shin, we have been Tuners long before joining Tool Toul To. Nearly ten years in fact. We both started out as curious young inventors who stumbled into the world of Air Trecks by accident and were hooked ever since. Next thing we knew, Shou's accident happened and we went our separate ways. If it wasn't for Ine, Shin and I would never have met again. We met her, eight years later, again, another accident decided by fate. We planned out the details to get Shou and Tsubasa together again. We've met many times and the planning let us to the final battle against the Stormers, but not before we joined Tool Toul To. _

"I don't understand you Akio. Not you or Shin." Ine blurted out all of a sudden.

"Remember what you said that day when you agreed to help us?" Akio replied calmly. "A Regalia should never be apart."

Ine just couldn't understand. "But you two could have been the successor to Tool Toul To AND the Pledge Regalia!"

Akio gave a deep sigh. "The Ring Road is one of the neutral Roads. You don't take sides unless absolutely necessary. The night before we announce leaving Tool Toul To, me and Shin, we discussed a few things. We have two Kings, one Regalia, there was no way we could remain neutral. And of course, having two Tuners who could understand the frequency of two Kings at such a high level, being able to listen to the beats and strums made by two different person whose relationship with us did not go even as high as brothers, the Ring Road just doesn't explain that."

Ine look disappointed but was breathing easier now she understood better but there was still many questions left on her mind. "And the Drill Road does?" Ine asked almost instinctively.

Akio kept quiet for a few seconds before he spoke again. "You live in the world of the Infinite Scale, a world we experienced once but just didn't click with us. It was amazing, perhaps, too amazing. We heard so many beautiful noises but the problem is that there was no silent."

Ine snapped to attention, realizing the truth behind the words.

"The Infinite Scale is your world, while the Endless Serenade is ours."

**XXX**

"COME ON!" Shin and the others shouted into the television set that was brought out for them.

Amaya was battling an enemy on the horizontal pipes while Daichi was being chased around on the ground below. Daichi took the pleasure of landing the first hit on his attacker by jumping into the tunnel. When his opponent attempted to follow in, he received a kick to the face. Though slowed, he got up and charged again. Daichi made a run for it, jumping from one tunnel to the next before jumping out, planting his feet to the opposite wall, and launching himself back and attacking the opponent with a clothesline before landing backwards in the tunnel.

**Tunnel to Wallplant to Fakie Moonwalk 180**

"Do I rock or do I rock?" Daichi taunted and praised as he continued with his hits and runs.

Above head, Amaya was having her own battle. Going back and forth on the two suspended pipes; jousting like knights of the old age. On their fifth round, the enemy turned but could not see his opponent and the next thing he knew, he felt a tuck at his leg and he was swung from the rails. He jumped off, seconds before fully losing his balance and grabbed hold of the rail on the other side. Dangling in the air, he turned to see Amaya's ATs sticking to the rail hanging her upside down.

"I still freak out when she does that." Miu exclaimed. "How does she do that anyway?"

Shin took it to himself of explaining. "You guys must have noticed Amaya's run has always been slow right. Well, the reason is, she has Magnet Wheels." The rest listened attentively as Shin continued his explanations. "Unlike normal wheels, the Magnet Wheels have magnetic rims and axle placed in them. Her axle is positively charged and the rim is laid in a positive-negative manner. The negative areas of the rim attract the positive axle allowing the wheel to turn as the axle does and positive area repels the axle, allowing it to 'float' to reduce fiction and absorbs more shock. Furthermore, two magnets are used to secure the wheel and they are constantly being charged with electricity from the motor, thus, constantly increasing the magnetic charge of the rim while the axle gets it charged directly from the motor. Super charged magnet also means increased grips on metal surfaces and so, Amaya can hang upside down."

"That sounds cool. Do you think I can have one of those wheels?" Miu asked.

"I don't think you can handle it." Shin said without thinking and Miu hammered him in the head. "Let me finish! Thank you. Now, as I was saying, even though these wheels increase handling and absorb shock, it greatly decreases acceleration as the hold between the wheel and axle depends entirely on how strong the rim magnet it. Amaya has trained very hard to learn how to use those wheels and let me tell you, it wasn't easy."

**XXX**

"Are you sure you don't want to go find them?" Spitfire said. "Weren't you the one who said we have to leave immediately?"

"No, I believe that was you." Shou replied, taking a sip of his drink.

They sat outside Hermes where Shou has ordered a large cup of coke where Spitfire settled with just a cup of water.

Spitfire looked at Shou intriguingly, "Are you sure they can beat a D-Class team like them? I know Tsubasa can handle himself but the rest are just F-Class riders!"

"And your point is?"

"Haven't you heard? Experts calculated that the chances of a team of lower Class beating one with a higher Class are barely one percent. Do you really think your friends have any hope of beating them?" Spitfire continued.

Shou took another sip of his drink. "Spitfire, you're forgetting who we are." Shou looked up at the sky with pride. "One percent, don't make me laugh. There's no such thing here. Don't forget, we're not just any humans. We're Storm Riders."

**XXX**

And all the way on the other side of town, Amaya dropped her opponent all the way to the ground before heading down the pole. Squatting down and grabbing the pole with both hands, she rides down the pole spinning.

**Grab the Paper**

Daichi headed towards her and once the two are leveled, Amaya stood straight up, using the cling of her wheels to support her. She extended her hands to Daichi who took it and slingshot him three hundred and sixty degrees round the pole straight into the oncoming enemy. A smile spread across Daichi's face as he lands the final kick.

**Daichi-Amaya, Round the World Slingshot**

Tricks

Grab the Paper: Spins round a pole in a squatting frog like position. It is good to use this trick to increase friction and reduce the speed of descend.

Round the World Slingshot: Amaya and Daichi tag move. Amaya uses the magnetic cling on her wheels to hang onto a metal pole. Daichi runs up to her at high speed, grapping her hand and turning one full round, fling himself at anything and anyone.

Team: Two-Steppers

Status: Active

Member count: 19

Lucia Miller (Leader): A psychopathic yet extremely attractive lady who have a taste for blood. Likes to play psychological warfare with her opponents and god know what is going through her mind. She is the current Fang Queen.

Jason: One of the two 'scouts' frequently used by Lucia. His riding skill is slightly better than his partner but not by much.

Conon: One of the two 'scouts' frequently used by Lucia. His skills as a rider are mediocre and is considered the lousiest in the team.


	12. Shift three: Enter the Fangs

Gear Eight, Shift Three: Enter the Fangs 

_When the weak becomes strong, will the strong still be the enemy of the weak?_

"ALL RIGHT, WE WON!" The Duals cheered as Amaya and Daichi steps out into the open, dragging behind them the two enemies they beat.

The group jumped in and hugged, overwhelmed with the fact that one more win will get them through this ordeal. A Stepper came up and dragged his fallen comrades away to what they could tell was medical treatment. Lucia came up from behind clapping and a cold silence swept over the Duals.

"Bravo little beasties but I'm afraid now is no time for celebration. It's time for the next match." Lucia said seductively. "Why don't you choose your riders first this time?"

"All right then, I haven't got my fair share of fight yet!" Miu exclaimed excitedly.

Amaya stepped forward again. "Count me in as well! I can still fight!"

"Very well then," Lucia took a looked around her and pointed to the closest member to her. "you there, you'll fight in the next match" she turns her attention back to Miu and Amaya. "and battle alongside yours truly, me."

"NO WAY! I'm not gonna let you do that!" Tsubasa stepped forward to show his protest. "I'm taking over Amaya."

Lucia gave a sly smile. "But they've already decided. Maybe next time, you should think through your decisions first."

Tsubasa's face contorted with anger and his ATs roared. He took a stance and was about to attack but stopped when a warm hand held onto his left shoulder. Tsubasa suddenly relaxed and turns to see Miu's smiling face.

"Don't worry, I'll protect her." Tsubasa was readied with an answer, only to be cut again. "It's for keeps." She whispered into his ear.

_The night before…_

"_Hey Shou, there's something I want to ask you." Tsubasa said on their way back home._

"_Whash ish itch?" Shou replied with his mouth stuffed with bread he brought along._

_Tsubasa looked at him disgustingly as Shou slurped a piece of dangling bread back into his mouth. Shaking off the feeling, he decided to ask the question before he hurl. "I know this whole meeting with Spit is important and all but what if, and I'm speaking what IF, the guys lose tomorrow?" _

_Shou looked uninterested and this annoyed Tsubasa greatly. With clenched teeth, Tsubasa continued. "I mean, there are a lot of parts on the line here. If we can't win tomorrow, we just don't have the parts to pay up. The emblem might be lost again."_

_Shou continued eating and replied only with a small nod and a casual "Ok."_

_This pushed Tsubasa over the edge and he pulled Shou by the shoulder and yelled in his face. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you WANT the team to lose?"_

_Shou swallowed a mouthful of bread and said. "You don't have to shout." He continued walking on, digging into the already empty plastic bag in search of more bread but sigh when none was left. "Relax, they're a strong bunch. They beat the Hell Gates, your Stormers and who knows what else before that. They'll be fine."_

_Tsubasa jogged up to walk at pace with him. "Even so, they're not facing any team this time. They're facing a team which has been known as the best in team battles. And not to mention we're playing on their home ground."_

"_You should really see them train sometimes you know." Shou continued, seemingly oblivious to what Tsubasa said. "They've got lots of stuff in those hearts of theirs and tons of skills to add, especially Miu. Don't know why but she's been training like hell the past few days. At her current level, all she's missing is a Regalia of her own."_

"_You're just saying that cause' you like her aren't you?"_

_Shou did not reply. All he did was smile and walked on._

Tsubasa relaxed and gave a stiff nod, unsure whether or not he made the right choice as he watch Miu and Amaya walked through the door, followed by Lucia and her member, who was shaking in his knees and Tsubasa wondered why.

**XXX**

They entered the battlefield and the lights came on, again, revealing a totally new arena. They stood along a corridor with lights positioned four meters from each other flickering above them and grey walls surrounding them. The ceiling was almost thirty meters high but was covered by glass just three meters up. On the left, the corridor took a sharp turn right and what lies beyond disappeared from view. On the right, the corridor continued along further before turning left.

"What is this?" Miu asked more to herself than the others.

Lucia took the liberty of explaining. "This is a labyrinth my dear." She had a tone of seductive mocking in her words. "But don't worry, you won't get lost. There's only one path you see."

She and her still trembling member made way to the left. "When the alarm sounds, the battle begins. Head to your starting point and wait for the _bloodbath _little girlies." She turned the corner and disappeared from view.

Amaya and Miu exchanged nervous glance before nodding to each other in approval before heading right. Following the corridor, the two riders turned into a long path which leads to a dead end. About half way from the path, there was a rectangle area on the wall which seems to have been newly painted over with white paint suggesting there might have been some sort of entrance there. At the end of the corridor a red line was painted two meters from the end, showing the area of where they should stand.

The two discussed strategy and decided to stay on the defense since they clearly do not stand a chance in a head on attack. "There's only one path, we'll hit them with all we've got once they come into sight." Was what Amaya said to which Miu was shocked that she came up with such good reason seeing she is usually extremely blur and easy going.

The alarmed sounded and they were ready for the wait but a loud scream of pain which echoed above the alarm took them by surprise.

"What in the world was that?" Amaya exclaimed, shocked at the scream.

"I don't know but I'm going to find out." Miu replied and took off; abandoning all the plans they've made for defense. Amaya gave a nervous sigh and rode after her.

They turned into the corridor they were at when they first came in and continued on, following the turn Lucia made. A right, a left, a zigzagging corridor, another two more right-make that three…the labyrinth seems never ending they thought as they pass by under an air vent. But Lucia didn't lie, there was only one path.

Something in the path made them stopped. After a spiraling corridor which made them dizzy, they stood in front of a body. The body of the member Lucia bought in with her laid on the ground in half and obviously, dead. At the end of the corridor, standing at another dead end is none other than the Fang Queen herself, smiling. The walls from where Lucia stood all the way to where the body lies was painted with fresh red blood and Lucia, using her fingers, wiped some off the wall and licked it.

"Delicious."

A moment ago, Amaya felt like puking but at that one word, something took her over, something one would call humanity or the very least, anger.

With a loud cry, Amaya dashed forward to Lucia who in returned, smiled and sent a wind or 'fang' at her. The Bloody Armor, Regalia of the Fang Queen. The Leviathan Fang, with the ATs wheels motor, it vacuums and compressed the air into a sharp shockwave or 'fang' as the Kings calls them.

**Bloody Armor's Infinite Atmosphere, Leviathan Fang**

The fang came horizontally at great speed towards Amaya but her focus allowed her to move to the walls, riding it up and over the fang while at the back, Miu simply hid behind the wall. Another fang came, vertically this time and Amaya was forced to squat, still clinging to the walls which within contains bars of metals, allowing her AT wheels to stick to them. As Amaya came close to the Fang Queen, Lucia swings her left leg back and kicked it forth, sending another vertical fang at Amaya.

Amaya squat again, ready to dodge the attack but she didn't expect Lucia, who have been holding her legs above her head, sends it down again, releasing another vertical fang of even greater speed. The fangs shattered the glass ceiling which rained down on them. When the two fangs collide, they exploded right in front of Amaya, sending her back all the way to where Miu was, twenty meters far to be exact. Miu had came out of hiding and caught Amaya in her arms but the force sends her into the wall where she slumps down to a kneel, still holding her friend whose clothes were ripped a little here and there with patches of blood everywhere. Amaya's face was bloody with several cuts and she was clearly unconscious but still breathing which was a good sign.

**Leviathan Fang combo, Kraken Jaw**

**XXX**

"So what are you saying? This girl can stay up to speed against Lucia?" Spitfire asked, following Shou to the location of the battle. He was surprised at how hard it was to keep up with the teen that looks at ease even when going at such incredible speed.

"Well, maybe not up to speed but she can definitely hold her own if that's what you're saying." Shou replied calmly. "What, with her own Regalia and all."

Spitfire nearly lost his footing on a landing at Shou's last few words. "Wait, she has her own Regalia?" Spitfire said, obviously surprised.

"Well, why shouldn't she? We, and by 'we' I meant Akio and Shin made her a Regalia of her own which they just finished yesterday." Shou replied rather absent mindedly.

"So just exactly what Road does she run on that earns her the Regalia? You do know the Regalia mean she is officially a Queen now." Spitfire continued, still shock at the announcement.

Shou made a quick turn at a brown roof which Spitfire, for the second time that day nearly lost his footings trying to follow. "The Road she runs on," Shou said. "have the exact opposite principle of yours."

Shou looked back only to see Spitfire looking at him confused and continued his explanation. "While yours uses friction to create your little fire tricks, hers uses no friction to create a sort of shield."

"She creates shields?" Spitfire replied, still confused.

Shou sighed, worried this explanation might be longer than he expected. "I'll tell you more later on our way there."

"Aren't we heading there now?" Spitfire asked.

Shou gave him a quick smile. "No, I'm going back home to pick up a friend."

**XXX**

"Well now aren't you just a package of surprise." Lucia said as the dust from her last fang clears revealing the still standing figure of Miu who have valiantly placed herself in front of Amaya.

Even though the fang clearly hit the target, she was unscathed and all the while, her ATs roared. Outside the battlefield, still crowding around the little television set that was brought out for them with Tsubasa; Daichi looked closely at Miu's ATs which were much different from her old normal type. The base color has been repainted to that of slime green and there where lines of white that ran through the side. Her wheels were more modified than the rest of her ATs. As the camera zoomed in, all except Shin and Tsubasa was shocked at what they saw. The wheels have a one centimeter gap in between the rubber which doesn't seem to touch the ground. Inside the gap, small little teethes of sort, similar to those found in the mechanism of a correction tape can be seen. But what truly shocked them was written on the rubber of the wheels itself.

**Guardian Regalia, Aegis**

"Oh? Is that a Regalia?" Lucia said in a tone as if inspecting a curio. "How interesting, how does it work exactly?"

Miu looked at her in rage, still furious at what Lucia did to her friend. "You'll be finding out soon enough."

Lucia let out another horizontal fang. Once it was within Miu's range, she let out a kick in the same horizontal direction and the fang disperses into a cloud of smoke.

Daichi turn to look at Shin who was still listening to his music player. When Shin caught the gaze of his teammates, he let out a loud sigh and began the inevitable explanation.

"When our wheels turn, wind is released. This much is common sense right?" Daichi nodded, looking a little retarded at the same time. "If you noticed, before she kicks, her legs hit the ground, hard. We all know the ATs activate when there is weight. So when she kicks the ground with such force, she allows her ATs to gain speed instantaneously. Imagine this, the Air Trecks can move at such high speed even when there is a human on it. What happens when there is no weight, no friction?"

"You get one bloody fast wheel." Daichi exclaimed, seemingly 'in the light' now.

"That's right. At this point, the wind released is tripled, no, quadrupled. And when she kicks…" Shin was about to finish when Daichi cut in.

"You create a sort of shield!"

Shin nodded to show his approval of Daichi's conclusion before going back to his music player.

**XXX**

"Now this could be a problem." Shou said out loud.

He had just rejoined Ine and Akio and have just came from his house where he had gone to fetch his house guest, Arnold Wyndham to have him help in the Two Steppers match. He stood steadily behind Shou in blue jacket, green shirt and black jeans which all belong to Shou. But now the group of five faces an obstacle. Two black cloaked men had ambushed them on their way to the battleground. Both let their hoods down and revealed their faces to the group almost immediately after meeting them.

One of them was around the mid twenties with neat jet black hair combed to the right. His eyes have the same cross as that found in Spitfires and Ine, suggesting he is a Gravity Children as well. "My name is Hayato Katsu, you can call me Hyde."

The other was revealed to be a female. She has a long fiery red ponytail and sharp ruby eyes. Her looks could have easily won her the title of Miss Universe. "Phoenix." She said serenely without much emotion.

"Phoenix…" Arnold exclaimed. "As in, Phoenix Cathmor?!"

"Hmm…you know my last name. How did you find that out?" Phoenix said serenely.

Arnold took a closer look at her. "But, you're not Reagan, are you?"

"Ho-How did you know my brother?"

"Your…" Arnold took a few second to adjust to what he just heard as it did no justice to his knowledge of his enemy. "brother?

Phoenix was about to speak but was cut by Hyde. "Enough talk!" He yelled with anger. "It's time for action!" and with that, he charged towards Arnold who managed to snap out of his shock in time to dodge a well aimed roundhouse kick at his head.

Arnold stumbled back but managed to regain his footing. He saw Shou ready to jump in and shouted to him before he did. "Get going, I and Spitfire can handle this."

Though reluctant, Shou agreed and raced off with Akio following close behind. Arnold, happy now he had the fight to himself, went off to the opposite direction as Hyde gave chase.

"Flame King Spitfire…" Phoenix said with a stare.

Spitfire stared at her, returning the glare. "Reyna 'Phoenix' Cathmor."

There was no spark in their stare as all would have evaporated in the flames at their feet.

**Author's end note: What the-! It's Shift Three and you're leaving us in a cliffhanger? Haha, not to worry, it's impossible to cover this arc in three shift and so, it'll drag, all the way into Shift Five.**

Tricks

Leviathan Fang: An attack available to the Kings of the Bloody Road. Instantaneous acceleration and braking of the ATs wheel motors vacuums and compresses air into a shockwave.

Kraken Jaw: When a Leviathan Fang hits another one, the shockwave would change into a powerful but small explosion, injury anyone within the immediate surrounding.


	13. Shift four:Swords & Shields,Flame & Time

**Author's note: This is going to be the chapter where I give a go at writing Arnold Wyndham who is a character of JamJackEvo's Foreboding Wind which I've said many times REALLY needs to be read. It's really good I tell you. Oh, by the way, for those who skipped straight to this chapter; Gear One and Two have been rewritten. Gear Three onwards, major edits.**

Gear Eight, Shift Four: Swords and Shields, Flame and Time

_The shield, made to oppose the sword, thus battles came to be. The flame, created to start time, thus the world begins._

Arnold panted hard; he had barely made it halfway up the wall of the building when his surrounding turned dark. He had lost his footing and was now getting up after a three story fall. His back felt sore but it was nothing compared to one of Trick's punch. He could see nothing, just plain darkness. Even when holding his hands in his face, he could not see it, but feel it he could.

"I see," Arnold said to the darkness. "Shou told me of you before. You're the Star King of the Twilight Road. The only reason you got the name Hyde was because it sounded way cooler than Hide." He smiled insultingly at the finish.

"Shut up!" Hyde shouted angrily and his ATs rang out loud and clear.

Arnold couldn't see his attacker so he decided to light a small flame. Using the friction of his wheels, a small light was lid but none was seen. He felt the heat at his feet but there was nothing there, nothing at all. A loud smack to the side of his head meant his opponents attack connected and Arnold fell to the ground once more, listening to the sound of ATs disappear into the distance.

_Okay, didn't expect that…_

Arnold stood up again, with much more effort this time. His brain raced, trying to think through what is happening. Desperately trying to recall what he knew of the Road, he could think of none and only remembers about it being able to engulf a person in darkness.

"Darn it!"

_Looks like I'm on my own then…_

He wanted to take a deep breath to calm himself but stopped halfway when he could feel something entering his mouth. He silently coughs out into his hand and felt it by rubbing his thumb over his palm. "What the hell?" He exclaimed as quietly as he could.

_It…feels like sand!_

"What's the matter kid? Can't hit what you can't see?" Arnold heard the voice and charged in that direction, putting his thinking brain behind. He could just make out the outline of his opponent before Hyde rode backwards, disappearing from view again and Arnold's punch completely missed.

Even though Arnold sensed Hyde has become less aggressive as any sudden movement could be his downfall, Arnold did not attack. The key to this battle was patience. Once Hyde slips up, Arnold would be there to cover his sorry ass with punches and kicks. He heard ATs roared again and made out a figure to his left. He charged towards it with a punch. As sudden as it appeared, the figure disappeared again and Arnold felt his fist hit the wall of a building.

He retracted his hand in pain with a yell and his instinct guided him. He gathered a decent amount of air in his palm and pushed towards the ground. A ring of wind blew outwards from underneath him and the darkness separated. He shielded his eyes as they could not immediately get re-accustomed to the light but he managed to catch a glimpsed of Hyde dashing sideways, leaving a trail of dust behind before being engulfed by darkness once more.

Arnold smiled. "I saw through your little trick Hyde. Get ready for a bloodbath!" He knew something was off with the air around him. Hyde had used speed to redirect the wind, causing the density of air within a particular area to increase by forcing the wind outside in. With the density changed, he could kick up a cover of particles, dust or sand or whatever to cover out the light from the outside and inside creating darkness as the particles would be lighter than the surrounding air, allowing it to float for a period of time. **(A/N: This is all a hypothesis, please correct me if I'm wrong and thank you for reading!)**

"I'd like to see you try kid!" Hyde replied through the darkness and his ATs sounded off again.

Arnold couldn't risk dispersing the darkness like before as his eyes would be unable to keep up with the sudden change in lightings. But of course, he had other plans.

_I only got one chance at this._

The motors of Hyde's Air Trecks burst into overdrive from behind and Arnold saw, or in this case, heard the opening he needed.

He made a quick jump and kept the back of his feet buckled to his bottom. A wind which passed through from under him indicated Hyde was right below him and had missed his attack. Arnold stretched out his legs and felt them connect to Hyde. He gave a heavy push and felt himself soar through the air at a cruising speed. The surrounding slowly grew brighter, allowing his eyes time to get accustomed to the light.

He fell out onto the alleyway. What he thought was darkness before now stood a large mound of rising dust, Hyde's shadow shown in the center of it all, trying to get to his feet.

He gave a proud smirk and using his hand, made a rectangle with his finger like that of a camera and moved it to encase Hyde. "I've got you now!"

He stomped his right AT to the ground and it roared furiously. The friction of the wheel was too much and soon, sparks began to emerge followed by a set of wings of flame from the sides.

**Start Up! Fury!**

Arnold sends a powerful kick, braking and accelerating his ATs the same way as a Fang King would. The resulting effect was a burning, horizontal fang.

**Fang from hell, Helios Fang**

The burning attack made contact and a loud explosion sounded off. Arnold rushed forward to have a look at his handy work and found a large hole in one of the building leading to the left wall of a pup. Tens and twenties of customers were making a frantic rush for the door. The pup is lighted by a wave of groovy purple and the round tables were arranged to face a stage which stood a band, still playing their music. The drummer positioned in the centre, the guitarist and bass on the left and right respectively and the pianist close to the curtains on the left. Each of their instruments have a black triangle with the band name, 'Triace' written in it.

Hyde lay in a pile of rubble of chairs and table on the other end. Arnold, at first, thought he was finished and made a turn for the exit when a sinister laugh behind made him turned.

Hyde stood up, his body smoking from the attack. He stopped laughing and wiped off some dust from his shoulder.

He gave a sinister smile and spoke, "Is that all you've got? If it is, I'll have no problem SENDING YOU TO HE- Ouch!"

The drummer of the band has thrown one of his drumstick and it hit Hyde in the right eye. "Keep it down will you? Can't you see we're playing here?" He yelled.

"Well can't you see we're having a fight here?" Hyde yelled back. He turned his attention once again to Arnold. "Now, I'M SENDING YOU ON A ONE WAY TRI- Ow!" Once again a drumstick flew his way.

Angered by this, Hyde turns to face the band but was met with a barrage of microphones and he held his hands up, shielding his head as he slowly back out of the pup from the way he came.

Once Hyde disappeared from view, the band turned their attention to Arnold.

"I'll be going now." He said immediately and slowly back away with his hands in the air, using the same exit as Hyde.

**XXX**

Flashes of light blaze through the sky and innocent citizens avoided the heat of the alley. The lid of the garbage cans melted and glued themselves together. The scene was like one of the dessert, the images slightly blurred. Spitfire slide backward into a brake after an onslaught so fast, it became invisible to the naked eye. He was burning, literally. Smoke rose from his body and ATs. Phoenix followed, still facing Spitfire as she emerged from her own run.

They stared down at each other with such fury, like nothing seen before; their whole concentration was on the opponent and nothing else. Just when it seems they've settled down, the result of their run was show.

From their ATs, a line of flames burst forward, curving around and meeting at strange angles like on the wall. Four lines of flames stood out above the others, connecting the roofs of the buildings like a dragon. The fire continued to burn and soon, everything around it was up in flames. Screams were heard from the streets far away as smoke rises. This was a fight of Kings, all the way from the depths of Hell.

"You're pretty good." Spitfire said to Phoenix, a cut forming on his face.

"Likewise." Said Phoenix, a few strands of her hair fell from her fringe.

Phoenix smiled and without any warning, the gap between her and Spitfire was closed. She had raised her legs and aimed it at Spitfire's gut. She had initiated Fury but something was wrong. The wing-like flames were slowly diminishing.

"BACKDRAFT!" Spitfire yelled out but it was too late and a burst of flames shot out from Phoenix's AT resulting in Spitfire being thrown backwards.

**Backdraft Cannon **

Phoenix looked curiously at Spitfire who was still on his feet and seems barely hurt. "That was a dangerous stunt you pulled there." She said after a thorough examination. "You could have just as easily killed yourself."

"They don't call me the Flame King for nothing you know." Spitfire replied coolly.

"You could have suffocated."

"It was only for a second."

Spitfire had instantaneously heated up the wheels of his ATs to over five hundred degrees using the friction. This causes the flammable substances within the smoke surrounding him and those from his ATs and Phoenix's Backdraft Cannon to ignite, causing a flashover. This created a backfire effect on the Cannon as the two flames ate out the oxygen of the other needed for burning. What threw spitfire off was just the force of the explosion.

**Full-bodied Flashover **

The heat in the alley did not subside and without noticing it, both riders had a drop of sweat rolling down their face. None of them had expected a battle more intense or exciting as this. It would be the greatest battle they've had in years. A sense of mutual respect filled them, something so strange and fierce that no man could have experienced it in any point of their life. They looked into each others eyes; it was like staring into the depths of hell.

**XXX**

Miu and Lucia rode back and forth high walls as if they were in a jousting tournament. Lucia constantly used the walls to generate friction and release fangs while Miu shields it off with her kicks, accelerating each time she reaches the opposite wall as well. With every fang, Lucia grows more and more worn out with each attack while Miu handles her shields with ease.

On the seventh charge, Lucia's Fang was weaker as she could not generate enough friction from her kickoff and no fang was produced. She was open and Miu took the chance, using her wheels which are turning at top speed to execute a gut wrenching kick to Lucia's face. Lucia felt the blow and the excess air generate to create the shield became an extra punch, pushing her back to her side of the wall. Her back hits it hard and she bounce off, falling to the ground. Miu landed beside the still unconscious body of Amaya.

Lucia spat out a mouthful of blood, "I'm through playing games pretty little girl."

Miu took up a defensive position ready for the unexpected. Lucia gave a jump and Miu's eyes followed up. Lucia backed into the corner, unleashes one fang by kicking with her left leg from right to left horizontally, followed by her right leg in the opposite direction, creating another horizontal fang. Swinging the same leg over her head with flexibility that surpasses any known gymnast, her right AT touches the wall behind and she sends her leg down to create a vertical fang. Propelled by the kick, her left AT hit the same wall behind and, using her shoulder as a pivot point, she catapult her leg using her upper body strength and kicked from bottom to top, producing one last vertical fang.

**Lucia, Fang Queen Infinite Atmosphere, Free-Falling Falcon Fang**

Miu clenches her teethes nervously, awaiting the right moment to disperse the powerful attack. But it wouldn't be easy. She took a quick look back at Amaya and steadies herself for the onslaught.

The first fang dispersed with ease as she copied Lucia's kick. The second one came a little harder and she could feel strong winds blowing by her as she struggles to keep up. By the third, she was at her limits and the fangs hit her directly with the last fang ramming into the third, causing another Kraken Jaw. Dust rose and everything was covered by dust.

"Darn it, we need to get her out of there!" Daichi yelled to Tsubasa on his left.

"I'm right here you know." Tsubasa replied, digging his ear to indicate that Daichi was one decimal point too loud. "I would love to, but I don't think Shou's will let me."

"He's not here damn it!" Daichi was near to a scream now. "Zip in there and get her out of that mess. I know you're fast enough."

The sounds of slow moving ATs came to their ears. Turning to the entrance of the alley, Shou, Akio and Ine slowly glided in.

"Like he said," Shou began, he had a can of coke in his hand which he took a joyful sip from. "I won't allow it."

"SCREW YOU!"

Shou wasn't phase by Daichi's words. He kept his cool instead. Akio had gone to sit beside Shin and began playing _Chain _on his guitar. From the sound of the music blasting from Shin's earpiece, he was listening to the exact same song. Ine sat beside Akio, conversing with the man about times long past.

"MY FRIEND'S IN THERE! AMAYA IS HURT! AND YOU EXPECT ME NOT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!" Daichi was lost in rage. Shou however still kept his heartless eyes.

After a moment of silent, "So what are you gonna do about it little weakling?" Shou's word threw Daichi overboard.

He decided it was time to retaliate and raised his hands to attack the King. But just as he was about to do so, a tremendous pain surged through his legs and he fell to the ground.

"I've watched you train." Shou continued coldly. "You've never pushed yourself beyond your limits before. Just because you WERE the best doesn't mean you'll always be." Daichi stared up at him in anger but let the teen continue. "Everyone else in this team has trained, hard. Amaya trained five hours a day, six times a week to master those new upgrades of hers and Miu probably trained twice as long just to learn that new Road. She fell loads of times, trying to find a Road for herself and she did. It wasn't easy, I should know since I trained her."

Daichi could not speak for the truth had hit him.

_I'm always the best. Since the day we were still the Star Trekkers. So, I've never bothered to train. I lost against Shou and the match against Daiki, I've never told anyone but my legs were in horrible pain after that match. And just now, if Amaya didn't come for me, I would've probably lost just because the area wasn't 'my forte'._

"Daichi," Shou carried on, his voice still empty. "get over it."

Tsubasa had seen Shou like this before, twice in fact. It was never pleasant but it was about the only time Shou would say, often important facts about a rider. He turned his attention back to the live feed.

The dust was beginning to clear and by the looks of things, the battle shall continue.

**XXX**

Arnold met Hyde in midair, exchanging a kick each before landing on opposite rooftops. Both attack hit their mark but the force of the attack was not enough to keep the other down.

"I'm still not seeing stars!" Arnold pointed towards Hyde. "Don't tell me you're the Star King just because you can make things all dark."

"I'll show you all dark." Hyde bends down and readied for another round of midair combat. But Arnold knew better and charged Fury without leaving the ground. His opponent jumped.

_Once you're in the air, there's no way you can dodge one of my fangs._

Hyde smiled and did a front flip. In an instant, the sky seemed to have been covered by a blanket from ground to sky. An instant blackout of the sun caused everything in front of Arnold to turn pitch black. He stopped the charge, unable to see his opponent.

A presence crept up from behind the teen and Hyde, with the best croaky voice he could muster, "The boogeyman only comes at night."

Arnold felt a sharp pain in his spine as Hyde made his attack and Arnold stumbled forward in the darkness. By the third step, he felt no floor beneath him. On the forth, he fell from the roof, landing on the hard cold floor.

_Let the darkness take you…_

He crept up behind him. The feeling of being pressured grew. And suddenly, it disappeared. It was a foreboding feeling.

…_into the endless abyss…_

There was a glow in the sky, or, was it the wall? Arnold could not tell in the darkness. The glow grew brighter, _it looks like a star!_

…_where the only light you'll see…_

It flashed across the dark background, whizzing left and right like a firefly. Then it came straight for him, like a shooting star.

…_will be the one at the end of the tunnel._

Arnold braced himself for the impact, before realizing something was out of place. He _**can**_see the light. _But I can't see the flames at my feet?_ He realized the significance of his discovery and whirred round as a blur shadow of Hyde came into view. Jumping back, barely dodging the powerful kick which not only ruffled his hair, but sliced a few strands off his fringe.

**Twilight Road special, Star Fall**

He gathered another burst of air in his palm and slammed at the ground. This time, he didn't care to give his eyes time to adjust. He made out Hyde's figure a short distance away, apparently blown back by the wind. Arnold forced his eyes to focus in the bright light until he could get a better aim at his opponent.

Once he got a good enough view, he squat down and placed his right hand on the ground. He gathered another load of wind in his left hand and slams it into the ground. As the wind spread, he jumps with his hands still grounded. When his legs came down, it stopped centimeters above the ground on the wind. The ATs roared louder than ever as there is now no friction to stop it. It slowly descends and once the wheels touched the ground, Arnold disappeared from the spot.

**Light speed, Nova Burst**

Hyde felt a pain in his guts, as if he had just been hit by an F-1 race car and was instantaneously knocked out.

All the way out of the alley and across the busy street, Arnold held onto his chest in excruciating pain, sprawled out on the floor of the backstreet behind a mall like a dead bird.

"Oh…my…god…!" He said to himself, half panting and half on the verge of passing out. _If I didn't know time delay, I would have been dead by now. _He remembers the night before and how easy it had seemed for Shou to do that trick.

"_What are you doing?" Arnold asked from the roof of the abandon shack._

_In the large empty field just out of town, dust has been rising in spurts. The timings of the rise are all so constant. Arnold watches as Shou runs in a square. At each of the four corners, he does Recoil, each time his speed slowly increases._

"_How is that possible?" Arnold asked._

_Shou comes to a sudden stop, kicking up another cloud of dust. "What's possible?"_

"_I mean, how is it that your speed increases after every turn? Usually, a rider's speed would decrease when he makes a turn, especially one as sharp as yours. Most people would have to come to a complete stop."_

"_Well," Shou began as he makes his way to the bottle of water beside the shack. "I redirect existing energy."_

"_I'm listening."_

_Shou popped the cap on the bottle and took a big swipe of water and began explaining. "Normal turning requires you to disperse your existing speed and create a new one in another direction. The whole point of Recoil is to neutralize that need. The roller-wheel goes on neutral and I can turn my body ninety degrees no problem. Once the turn is complete, I put my legs down, force weight down on my AT and boom! I create a new set of speed to add to my existing set."_

_After a few seconds where Shou continued drinking, "Hmm…I wonder…" Arnold thought out loud._

"_Wonder what?"_

"_I'm wondering if we could start-off with speed that already exists. But I guess it's impossible to have something that isn't there."_

_Shou smiled and positioned himself in a one legged squat. "I don't see why not?" The mechanism in his Regalia which gathers air for his Spirale Air has already gathered enough wind. "I'll call this the Nova Burst."_

_At the end of his sentence, he jumped with a back flip, faster than most eyes could see and unleashed the tiny ball of air from his AT. Arnold stared at the blur spot on the ground for a few seconds before Shou landed on it, hard. Arnold's eyes popped wide open, thinking the bullet might explode and he was right cause in just about a millisecond, strong gust of wind blew at his foot. _

_But Shou did not move. His AT continued to accelerate but he stayed on the spot, his wheels hovering a few centimeters off the ground. He leans his body forward and dug into the sand with his right hand. The wheels touched the ground and he pulled, launching himself from the spot and… disappeared._

_Arnold looked at the now empty space and a strong wind like that of a hurricane blew past him towards the direction Shou went. Dust rose up, shadowing the background of the city behind it. The path zigzagged a few times before ending around a few good five hundred meters away. And at the end of the dust trail, the figure of a waving teen can be made out._

_Arnold's eyes twitched, surprised at the speed and nervously waved back at Shou._

**XXX**

Spitfire settled into a squat, residents of the buildings around him had already evacuated, leaving the place an empty burning hell. It hasn't been long since the Sleeping Forest incident and he was still feeling some of the after effects of that battle. But even with that handicap, only a rider of battle level two hundred and above could have beaten him. Shou's battle level for instance. Though unrecorded, he currently has a battle level of over four hundred. Tsubasa's was around three fifty, about the same as himself.

Phoenix stood facing him. Though still standing, she was beginning to waver in place.

Spitfire gathered up his strength and stood up. "What's your battle level?" He asked.

"Hmm…" Phoenix closed her eyes as if in thought and when they opened again, "I'm not sure. I lost count at three hundred."

Spitfire could hardly believe his ears. He thought she might be trying to fool him but with the skills she displayed, it was highly unlikely. But still, the thought of a mere rider would be able to get to such high level without the title of King and their Regalia were going slightly over his head.

"You're beginning to bore me." Phoenix said suddenly with none of her usual calmness. It was more of an annoyed voice. Wings of flames emerged from the sides of Phoenix's ATs, more powerful than any before.

Spitfire snaps out of his trance. "You're right, let's finish this." Spitfire activated his own Regalia and a tremendous heat pulsated out from his heels, the floor beneath him began cracking from the heat.

**XXX**

The dust settled and Miu has been lifted off her feet by Amaya who did a split, clinging onto opposite ends of the wall.

"It wouldn't be fun if it ended here now would it?" Amaya whispered to her teammate before passing out again, dropping Miu to the ground and collapsing swiftly behind into the arms of an awaiting Shou. When he got there was a total mystery but Miu had a couple of hunches.

"Need a hand?" Shou said to Miu.

She smiled and turns to look at him. "Would you have given it?"

"For you, hmm…I'll consider." He smiled back.

Miu turned back to Lucia who was politely waiting for them to finish their conversation. "Win or lose, I want to try this by myself." Miu answered.

"Alright then, good luck." Shou replied, with a hint of disappointment in his voice and rode away with Amaya.

Miu turns back to Lucia. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we finish this?"

Lucia smiles, "I thought you would never ask." She bends her knees ever so little and Miu immediately knew she was attempting another Falcon Fang.

She readies herself as well and hears a small click from her ATs, signaling that her Regalia have finally been activated.

Lucia's smile grew even wider and she jumped, executing the combination kicks again, but this time, with twice the force. The four fangs descend upon Miu and she too gave her own thrusting kick, producing a shield, twice as large and twice as strong as her previous ones. The teethes inside the wheels had opened up and was spinning twice as fast as the wheels outside. The wind blows through the rims of the wheels and powers a motor within it, allowing the inner gear to turn on its own accord and generating a second layer of shield along with another thin layer of wind which acts as another shield spreading out in a circle.

**Aegis, Guardian Queen's Infinite Atmosphere, Guard Axis Infinitum**

The first fang hits but the shield did not even phase one bit. The next three fangs piled up on the first but did not explode like a Kraken Jaw but instead, made the attack stronger.

Lucia landed but was rooted to the spot as the wind emerging from the clash is holding her back. Miu was immobilized as well.

"The fang and the shield…" Tsubasa said to himself. "The first to break will decide this match."

**XXX**

The surrounding buildings were up in flames. Sirens could be heard blazing from around the corner. Two figures stood in the midst of the flames, clothes slightly torn, two flames which were burning brightly, both with their own reasons to fight. But now, one flame was dying out.

"How…did you do that?" Spitfire whispered out before collapsing to the ground. The last was unexpected. In fact, it was not suppose to be even possible. He was hit by his own Infinite Atmosphere, ten times more powerful than his own.

Phoenix's cloaked was thrown off during their battle. She was wearing a red buttoned up collar shirt with a left breast pocket and white-frill miniskirt. Her ATs were shown; both of burning red and golden line ran down the sides. Her wheels were blue and were all on fire. The heat would have easily been over hundreds of degrees but the ATs did not even seemed burned, the wheels not melting and not even the strings were on fire. Her shirt pocket was glowing red, barely noticeable behind the similar color of the cloth.

She put her left hand over the pocket to reply to Spitfire's question. "I have this."

"Well that's funny," A voice came from behind and Phoenix reeled round to face Arnold Wyndham. He held up his right hand which was glowing red. And slowly opens it up to reveal the hidden contents. The Flame Insignia, shaped like a small fire glowed brightly and Phoenix's hand once again reached out to feel the one in her pocket. "I have one too." Arnold finished.

Phoenix focused her attention on the strange teen. "Are you going to tell me who you are, how do you know my brother and how did you get that Insignia?"

"Insignias."

"What?"

"Insignias," Arnold repeated, reaching into his jacket and pulled out four more similar trinkets. "I have five of them."

"How did you-?" Her sentence was cut short by Arnold.

"Is Hyde in Void?"

"What?"

"Is he in Void?" Arnold asked again.

"No. Who are you?"

Arnold looked at her eyes; his face now wears a serious and unreadable expression. "I'm just a kid, looking for the one born in hell." _Hellborn…_

**Author's end note: This is the longest chapter I've ever written and the next one could very possibly be even longer. If I include the 'Tricks' section and my notes, this chapter would be well over five thousand words. If not, well, it'll still be damn close to five thousand. The band which appeared earlier in the chapter is actually made up of my Scout buddies. It's the drummer's birthday you see, or at least, it was (I was late see). This was supposed to be my present for him.**

Tricks

Fury: A start up procedure for the Alternate Flame Road. It uses friction to create a wing of flames to execute other attacks.

Helios Fang: Same concept as the Leviathan Fang but by generating fire to burn the flammable gasses in the air, it creates a flaming fang.

Backdraft Cannon: After initiating Fury, lifting the legs up causes the wind from the wheels to encase the flames, causing it to slowly die out. Upon impact, the casing is broken and the remaining flame burst out like a cannon to get the air needed for it to burn.

Full-Bodied Flashover: Instantly heating up the wheels to well over five hundred degrees ignites all flammable gasses in the area and creates an instant flame shield. If the rider is not able to withstand the heat, he or she will likely sustain severe burns or die on the spot.

Free-Falling Falcon Fang (Fang Regalia Infinite Atmosphere): Four consecutive fangs. For an expert of the Bloody Road, this is a simple attack but requires a specific condition which is the rider must be in mid-air with three surfaces surrounding the sides and back.

Star Fall: Hyde can manipulate the direction of which outside light can travel inside his 'darkness zone', enabling him to make his opponent concentrate on the light while attacking from elsewhere.

Nova Burst: Shou was the one who originally created the trick but was copied by Arnold. Using the same concept of the increase of speed during Recoil, the rider, if able to produce a platform of wind, can accelerate on the spot without moving since wind has little to no friction. It is an instant acceleration process which is hard to execute and harder to control.

Guard Axis Infinitum (Guardian Regalia Infinite Atmosphere): The wind which is originally used to create the shield will turn the Regalia, allowing the inner gear of the wheels to turn on its own accord, faster than the outer wheel. This enhances the original shield created in both durability and size.


	14. Shift five: Entwined Fangs

**Author's note: It is finally here, the long awaited final Shift to Gear Eight. What will come of the fights? In case you guys missed it, Gear One to Two has been rewritten and Gear three onwards edited. **

Gear Eight, Shift Five: Entwined Fangs

_Family, friendships, brotherhood and love. Their stories intertwined with a cruel twist of fate._

The first layer of her shield broke, shattering with a howl of wind. The fang that broke it disappeared along. Her leg slid back and she was unbalanced for a single second. But that was long enough for her second layer of shield to break. Only one left.

Lucia's second and third fang which forms a cross got absorbed by the fourth, creating one single power fang. Miu's leg began to shake, the pressure was overwhelming and she decided to risk it all on one single attack.

She swings her blocking leg back down, stomping her free leg at the same time, activating her Regalia. Once her blocking leg touched the ground, she sends her second leg thrusting into her own shield with a roundhouse kick, dispersing the last fang. Her AT roared louder and spun faster as it hits the frictionless platform and the shield exploded outward, firing a tunnel of wind at the Fang Queen.

**Add-on offence, Pile Cannon**

Lucia swings her leg again and cut through the wind like paper with another fang. Miu attempted to set up another shield but none appeared. She took a quick look down and noticed that her ATs had overheated and was smoking from the sides. D_amn, I forgot I don't have a Tuner yet._

The fang smash into her and a dust kicked up. Lucia tried to look through the dust clouds as the sounds of running motor filled her ears. She decided against waiting and sends another fang in to finish off anything that was left.

A blur in space made her sidestep as a Magnum pierces through her fang, destroying it on the spot.

Tsubasa stood in front of an unconscious Miu who was being held by Shou. The magnum created by absorbing Lucia's own fang.

"Game over Lucia," Tsubasa said, voice stern. "You win."

"Come on!" She replied playfully. "The fun's just getting started!"

Tsubasa stepped forward. "If you want someone to fight, I'm ready to take you on."

**XXX**

They showered themselves in a barrage of fierce exchanges of attacks. He punched and she kicked. Arnold rushes in and tackled her by the waist. She returned with a knee to the face, forcing Arnold to let go. Phoenix readied another Backdraft cannon. Arnold did one of his own. The explosion was at range so both were not injured as badly as it could have been. They flew apart, creating a large distance between them.

He skidded off to a halt, his lips bleeding while the buildings around him continued to burn. This Phoenix was nothing like the one Arnold had gotten to know. She was stronger, faster and tens times deadlier. Her first attack confirms it where she immediately fired a fast, accurate and strong Helios Fang at him which he barely managed to dodge.

Not knowing how, he expected the next attack and ducked as Phoenix closed in within an instant and sends him a sharp kick with her left leg. Arnold stood up, grabbing Phoenix's leg above his right shoulder. Instead of falling over, Phoenix demonstrated flexibility equaling a gymnast, splitting her leg open to an arc. Arnold extends a punch with his left but stopped inches from her face as he could not reach.

A fiery dance surrounded by buildings aflame. Their eyes met. Hers, a furious flaming red and his, a calm sea blue. They stood like that for quite some time, seemingly mesmerized by each others presence. A screamed from the end of the alley snapped them awake. Arnold turned his head and Phoenix raised hers to look.

Two young boys, twins, stood in the middle of the road in shock. The two Storm Riders did not need the car's honk to tell them those kids were in danger.

Arnold automatically opened up his fist and felt Phoenix grabbing it. He pulled and launched her over his head, with her using the leg on his shoulder to catapult herself off.

Arnold turned and attempted to pull off a Nova Burst but realized he did not have the right condition to use it. Instead, he settled for the simpler **Rocket Burst** instead. Positioning himself in a crouching position like runners, he unleashes the massive friction of the Flame Road and burst off from the spot, leaving a trail of blue flames, a result of all his training.

He followed the orange flames left by Phoenix and both entered a slide once they reached the road, scooping the two boys up with one hand and narrowly avoiding the oncoming, out of control truck.

The blue and orange flames left behind entangled themselves. Arnold and Phoenix let the two boys run off and continued their stare down. Strangely, a smile spread across both their faces.

Both riders said simultaneously, "Jinx."

**XXX**

Shou carried Miu on her back, riding through the maze in a cruising speed. His hoody wrapped over her.

"Never thought I'd see the day when you'd carry me." Miu said softly, her strength gone from her battle.

Shou smiled equally softly. "You can't expect me to never return the favor now did you? Besides, things change."

"There's one thing that never changes though."

"And what's that?"

"You're grades."

Shou gave a small chuckle. "You can still joke at a time like this?"

"I'm not joking. You're grades really are terrible."

"Nerd"

"Humph, I need to come up with a nickname for you." Miu said. "Otherwise I'm gonna be called nerd for the rest of my life with no comeback."

**XXX**

Lucia and Tsubasa continued their intense stare down while her Tuner, a ruff white haired male in a mechanic suit was tending to her Regalia, switching between the tools under his sleeves with a sleigh of hand.

"You missed a spot Rune." Lucia said, not looking away.

"Don't tell me how to do my job." He replied annoyed.

"So you're her Tuner?" Tsubasa asked.

"Officially, yes. I'm the only one who can hear her sound. But that doesn't mean I like the way she works."

Tsubasa gave a sympathetic nod of agreement. "The rules of Tool Toul To are hard to break I guess."

"Not everyone can be like Akio and Shin." Rune continued without much emotion, putting up the finishing touches on the Regalia.

Tsubasa turns his attention back on Lucia. "Should we get started now? I'll go get my partner and you can get yours." She said cheerily.

"Don't need. We already know what you'll do with your partner."

Rune kept the rest of his tools that were lying around and stood up. "I'll be her partner than." He said and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Tsubasa asked.

"Forfeiting." Rune passed Tsubasa and answered. "I'll go get Shou so the three of you can have your fun."

Tsubasa turned and gave Lucia a quizzical look. "What can I say," Lucia said to her surprise. "he knows me well."

**XXX**

They continued their battle, riding on the wall and shooting through the flames, continuing to perform their dangerous Tango of Death.

"What was your name again boy?" Phoenix asked calmly, apparently not affected by the fact that the two were fighting in perpetual hell.

Arnold was able to keep his cool as well, though not to the level that Phoenix can where her emotions were hidden. He does have a small temper after all. "Wyndham, Arnold Wyndham."

"That's a nice name. Mine is Reyna-"

"-Cathmor, I know." Arnold finished for her. The name jammed something back into his head and he asked. "What's your relationship with Reagan?"

"He's my brother. What about you?" The way they spoke were like a friendly conversation, even while she dodges a punch from Arnold and countered with a kick of her own.

Arnold rode higher up to avoid the kick. "He's Phoenix to me." He let his gripped go and slide down the wall, delivered a failed uppercut, shot himself back up and onto the roof. Phoenix quickly followed.

"We better talk later. Any more of this and I might start getting distracted." Phoenix finished.

"Agreed." Arnold replied with a smile and sends a Helios Fang her way.

She got ready to dodge it but Arnold did something unexpected. He executed a Rocket Burst and dashed pass Phoenix, unleashing another Helios Fang. Phoenix sidestepped and the two fangs collide. The fire, now out of controlled, burst out from the side and created a huge wall of flames. From what he saw, Phoenix was engulfed in the second part of the attack. But Arnold knew that it will never be so easy and he got himself ready in case she burst out of the flames for an attack.

**Hell's castle, Helios Fort!**

_Now, let's see if I can do that new trick I've been practicing. Wait a minute, what the hell is that?!_

**XXX**

She cuddled herself tight in the white hoody, clenching her fist on the opposing sleeves. She was worried even though she knew she need not for that one legged rabbit was the best Storm Rider she has ever seen. _Hmm…rabbit. I think that's what I'll call him from now on. After all, he is white with this thing on. _Miu took a look at the hoody and held it even closer. The small television screen flickered and the battle between the three Kings was about to start.

**XXX**

"Do you want to change the battlefield boys?" Lucia asked seductively. "If so, I'll have to ask you two to step outside for a while.

Shou and Tsubasa gave a smile and the former said, "Why don't you just put it on spin?"

Lucia seems genuinely shocked. "Oh, you noticed?"

"Of course we noticed. We saw it in the Trick Pass. You sound proof the whole building so no one can hear it turn." Tsubasa replied.

"Wow, you two are smart. Why didn't you tell your teammates then?" She asked, directing her question more towards Lucia.

"I like to surprise."

Lucia gave a sinister smile and drew a circle in the air. All was silent for a minute and a rumbling sound signals the battle has began. The room began to tilt and all three of them rushed out of the maze. By the time they reached the spiral, the wall had become the ground. They managed to get beside the air vent they passed by earlier, kicked it open and jumped in.

Instead of an air duct, the trio was in a dark, dimly lid square room. A giant mechanical axle turned overhead, connected to large gears all round the room. They were in the very room which turns the entire building. None of them look surprise for they already knew what to expect. They hopped over the gears and an oddly placed door on the floor and jumped through a large hole opposite the vent. With skills, they grabbed onto the ceiling of the hotel lobby which was now the wall and slide down, landing on the empty wall of the lobby.

"Three minutes before this place goes one eighty." Lucia explained quickly.

"Let's do this then." Shou said and charged in quick with a Cartridge Slide.

Lucia jumped and dodged the attack skillfully, only to encounter Tsubasa with a dropkick. She places her ATs onto his and kicked herself away before the attack connected. She turns in mid air and regains her balance as Shou did a spin to handstand before recovering with his back facing her, releasing a Spirale Air and ending it with a back flip, kicking the projectile towards the Fang Queen. She sidesteps and releases two consecutive Fangs in a cross.

**Gigaer Cross**

The two Kings absorbed the Fangs with their Regalia. "Go for it Shotgun!" Shou called out Tsubasa's nickname.

"Ha! Haven't heard you call me that for a long time." He fired off a Magnum and Shou used the stored up Fang in his Regalia to instantaneously boost his speed, catching up to the Magnum and kicking it a second time.

**Tag team, Calling Shotgun**

Lucia again dodged the fast bullet which ricochets off the floor where she stood a second ago, headed upwards and shattered the metal elevator door like it was paper. _Damn it! Guess I underestimated them._

The three paused and Shou went up to give Tsubasa a high five. "You the man! Tsubasa 'Shotgun' Tadashi!" Damn, I forgot how catchy that was." Shou yelled out happily.

**XXX**

Phoenix looked like a real phoenix, flying high in the sky with a long line of flames at her heels. The Helios Fort which Arnold has created now follows her ATs in an obedient line, like a giant caterpillar stuck on a shoe. She did a front flip and the flames encircled her like a wheel, ending with a downward kick which sends the flame crashing into Arnold.

It was a direct hit and Arnold, taken by surprise was caught in the flames. Not sure if it was an act of desperation or pure instinct, he gathered and released a burst of air, dispersing a good radius of fire around him. He was now slightly burned, the skin on his left cheek and right arm was overly red and his outfit slightly charred.

Arnold was shocked. The Helios Fort was one of the most unpredictable flame tricks he knew and Phoenix took control of the fire so simply. But before he asks how she did it, the reply was already given.

"My Air Trecks can control fire. Don't ask me how since I'm not the one who made it." She replied. She sounded bored. "The guy who gave it to me said something about chemical changes that attract fire. Personally, I don't give a damn. As I long as I can use it, I don't really care."

It was true. If the pair of ATs was Arnold's, he would probably give no shit as to how it worked as well, as long as he knows how to use it that is.

"Actually," Phoenix continued. The voice snapped Arnold out of his thoughts. "I didn't intend on using this but you gave so much in your run that it be a shame not to let you see this." She raised her head and gave the boy a beautiful smile. "Thank you for not holding back."

"Humph." Arnold lowered his head, smiling himself as well. He held back the blood that was trying to come out from his throat and replied, "Don't mention it."

They both placed their right foot forward and pushed off, charging straight at each other while leaving only trails of flames behind. He sidestepped right and gave a left hook. She duck down and gave a right knee.

The knee connected and Arnold swerved one eighty from the impact. He rubbed the spot where she hit him. It was a little sore, nothing he can't handle. But a few more dozens of those and he'll end up sprawled dead on the ground. He couldn't beat her at speed. All he had was sheer strength but he needed some distance to execute his more powerful attacks.

Without much choice left, he gave a quick retreat. Phoenix gave chase, executed a Rocket Burst and appeared in front of him in an instance and fired a horizontal Helios Fang.

_I knew it!_

Arnold jumped. He had once or twice ridden on a normal Leviathan Fang before but has never tried riding a Helios before. It was hot, really hot. He rode the fang backwards, all the while facing Phoenix. When he was on the opposite rooftop, he kicked away from the fang as it exploded. He rode the blast and flew even further off, ending up three rooftops away. It was enough distance for him.

Phoenix came over, but stopped one roof away and readied herself for an attack. She took a quick breath but realized something was wrong. She could not breathe. She shifted in her position and managed to catch a large lung full of air before she found herself out of oxygen again. _Something's wrong._

As a rider of the Flame Road, she instantly noticed the strange level of heat coming from her opponents ATs. He was shifting his heels up and down, controlling the amount of friction heat while standing on the spot. She could not figure out what he was doing and continued to stay on the alert.

"I could have used my own Helios Fang but since you offered yours, I just could not resist the offer." Arnold voice echoed; his eyes closed as he concentrates to 'feel' the wind. "I haven't mastered this to the level Hyde has so I guess he deserves some credit for getting that far. Ah, this should do it." He opened his eyes again.

Phoenix found another pocket of air and took another big breath and then it came to her. Her palm could feel a faint breeze and so could her face. But that was the problem. Only those two areas had wind. And for him to mention Hyde's ability means that he must be toying with the density of air as well to have achieved such effects. _But that's impossible! I thought he was of the Flame Road? Unless…_

She looked up and found Arnold smiling. "I guess you figured it out." He replied to her shock. _If I miss this, it's over._

His ATs roared and flames burst forth. The fire shot through the oxygen filled passage Arnold had created for them, a dozens of twisting and twirling flaming snakes shot in Phoenix's direction.

**Wings and Flames combine, Apollo's Sun Flare!**

Phoenix snapped awake and dodged one of the flaming snakes. She felt the breeze on her left hand and jumped away, narrowly missing one that came from behind. She took a quick glance at Arnold. He was having a tough time controlling the direction of the flames and this could be as much of an opportunity for her as much as a danger.

She rushes in, sliding to avoid another flame path. Using her acrobatic skills, she twist, turned and flipped her way through. Somehow, despite all her skills, the left of her skirt got burned off and her ponytail came undone, letting her hair rage naturally with the wind. Her special ATs were unable to attract the flames as there was no oxygen to burn in her surrounding.

Arnold shot a new Sun Flare directly at her when she neared but she managed to jump high over it.

With defeat close, Arnold unleashed his last resort and relinquished his hold on the surrounding air. The oxygen burst inwards and the fire paths exploded violently like a chain of gas pipes being blown up.

The final Sun Flare backfired on Arnold as it connected to Phoenix's ATs. His opponent silhouetted against a background of fireworks, Arnold watches with a strange sense of respect as his opponent delivered the flaming whip to his battered body. The impact of the whip, the heat of the flames and the force of the kick was overwhelming, much worst than what his girl back home could do and as he fell back, he gazed up at the smoke filled blue sky and soon blacked out.

**XXX**

The lobby was now right side up again and the Riders raced to and fro. Lucia fired a Fang at the crescent reception desk and as soon as the fang hit the marble, it exploded at an angle, unleashing a powerful gust which held her opponents on the spot. She charged in during this opening and successfully delivered a kick to Tsubasa's gut, sending him flying into a pillar.

Shou came in with a right hook but was easily avoided. Lucia grabbed him by the shoulder, rotated on her ATs and threw him through the now opened elevator door as the room began tilting at a forty five degrees angle. She followed swiftly after, sending another Gigaer cross through.

In the metal room, Shou held onto the parallel rails to avoid being slammed into the hard material but met face to face with the two fangs. Unable to dodge or absorb, he took the full blow and was knocked into the metal floor anyways.

He saw Lucia coming down at him and quickly recovered with a back flip, releasing a Spirale. Shou then jump onto his Spirale, executing his own style of Nova Burst and in a way, teleported to the opposite of the room.

Lucia unleashed the most powerful Fang she could which cut through the two pipes like wet paper. Shou shot a Spirale at the Fang but he could not gather enough momentum to launch a strong one due to using the Nova Burst. Just before the Spirale reached its target, Tsubasa came down from the submarine manhole on the ceiling and down the pole. He slingshot himself off and sends himself kicking into the Spirale, executing a **Reverse Calling Shotgun**.

The two attacks dispersed each other and the wind knocked all three of them back. In under thirty seconds, they had left the place a mess with many of the items in the room and the room before broken, cracked and disintegrated like the elevator door.

"I've had about enough of you two and your dancing around." Lucia said loudly, none of her usual calm was presence. She swings her legs back and her Regalia clicks into action. Which made everyone watching realized that all the while, she had been fighting without activating the Regalia; which means…

"We're screwed." Tsubasa said.

She sends her leg down and connected with another kick, unleashing a Gigaer Cross two times larger and more powerful than the ones before.

Without any place left to run, the two decided to do the unthinkable; charge straight into the thing.

Ramming into the fang at full speed, the two got the wind knocked out of them. But it was necessary. The fang slammed them into the metal sliding door which turned out to be much weaker than it seems. It gave way easily and they fell through a wall of dried paint, putting them back in the labyrinth near Miu and Amaya's starting point.

"Thank god for slipstream." Shou let out in a grunt of pain.

"You said it." Tsubasa agreed in a coarse voice.

**XXX**

"I suppose you want an explanation don't you?" Shin said reluctantly to all the staring faces which in this case include, Amaya, Daichi, Jason, Conon and the rest of the Steppers. Miu was the only one still focusing on the match. Shin gave a loud sigh and gave Akio a nudge. "It's your turn. I did the last one."

Akio caught the piercing glares off all those around him and he can tell Ine was trying hard to hold back a laugh. "Alright, I'll talk." He finally spoke. "The Bullet Road that Tsubasa runs on and which builds the foundation of the Cyclone Road of Shou uses two things. One, the ricochet effect where leftover momentum is redirected to reduce the speed lost during turning. Did you guys get that?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good." Akio said before continuing his explanation. "Then there's the slipstream concept. A bullet is made in such a way so it reduces air resistance. In their case, the rider places themselves in a position that dramatically reduce air resistance and that's why those two are so bloody fast."

"But it's not as easy as it looks." Shin interrupted as a mischievous look flash across everybody's face, indicating that they wanted to try it out.

"That's right." Akio retook the conversation. "The one thing about having so little air resistance is that you have near zero support meaning it's extremely hard to control your riding in that stat and if you fall at that speed, well, let's just say you won't be able to look yourself in the mirror after that."

_The slipstream reduced the impact of the fangs and their push against the attack helped reduced the impact of their crash. Though it seemed stupid, it was perhaps the only way at the time. _Miu's attention was still on the screen, eyeing the magnificent display of skills. _Though I've only known them in the AT world for a short time, those two idiots, have shown me that ATs can be so much more than just meet the eyes._

The screen flickered as the two partners stood. Tsubasa unzipped his jacket and threw it aside. _I'll get it back later. _He was wearing a white shirt, a Yin and Yang contrast to Shou's black. The two angle and devil of war stood side by side in the rubble.

"Let's do this." They two said in unison.

The battle was about to be decided.

**XXX**

They have raced through the labyrinth while being chased by Lucia and ended up back into the gear room. The rooms had stopped turning under Lucia's command. Tsubasa was kicked and slammed into the last remaining door in the floor and Lucia followed suit, chased by Shou.

The last room was the most empty one of the four with virtually nothing inside it except for the four walls, floor and ceiling.

Tsubasa nearly met his end when he nearly landed on his head. After recovery, he had to quickly roll out of the way of Lucia's fierce kick from above. The latter again having to dodge Shou's own falling attack. They backed themselves into opposite ends.

Another intense stare down ensued. It was a miracle that none of their eyes popped out after all the staring they did that day.

"I hate to drag this." Lucia said fiercely, her Regalia and herself were almost at the limits.

"Likewise." Shou replied, aware that the Twin Cores were reaching their limits as well.

Tsubasa took a step forward. "Let's settle this bitch."

Lucia showed no emotions to the insult and instead, swung her right leg up like before. "Die!" She swings it back down and kicks a right to left diagonal fang, connected with another diagonal right to left fang with her left.

Shou yelled out a war cry and rushed forward, did a back flip to release a Spirale. While upside-down, he switch the pivot point from his torso to his shoulder with immense effort from years of training and his body flipped back up faster than usual. At an angle of around forty five degrees, he switched the pivot again, this time to his waist and sends a powerful kick into the Spirale before landing with a handstand to recovery.

Lucia charged forward and while at high speed, did a back flip of her own but her wheels were still touching the ground, the friction from the 0-100-0 acceleration created two more horizontal Fangs which fires off and lodges itself in the centre of the first cross.

**Hex Fang**

The combination Fang meets the Spirale midair and the two Infinite Atmospheres begins their final push.

Tsubasa stood back with his eyes close, deep in thoughts and memories. _Suzuki, Takuma, this is for you. _His eyes burst open and he bends down and rushes forward in the most dangerous position of the Bullet Road where there is absolutely no wind resistance and no support except for your own skills.He did a powerful Recoil brake and sends all the momentum into his right leg. The force sends his Regalia rising up faster than the eyes could see and the Magnum bullet spun violently on the ground upon release.

_For the wind._

"**VORTEX-**" he sends the leg down with great force. "**BREAKER!**"

The supercharged Magnum Air jet straight into Shou's Spirale. The Spirale Air practically exploded and the force was so great that all four of the Hex's Fang disappeared.

The wind produced was almost like a typhoon but the two partners stood their ground, even as a roaring black hole-like vortex began to form from the Spirale with the Magnum rooted in the centre. The wind must have been stronger on Lucia's side as she was practically struggling for her life against the oncoming wind.

"Hey Shou." Tsubasa's voice was soft over the wind but for some strange reason, it sounded loud and clear.

"Yeah Tsubasa?"

"I got over it."

At those words, the Magnum fired from the vortex, there was a loud blast and the Magnum disappeared. A hole appeared in Lucia's stomach. The vortex gave one mighty siphon and fired a burst of wind which threw Lucia into the wall where she slumped down unconscious, but for Tsubasa, he wished she was dead.

_Damn…it. I really…underestimated…those two._

**XXX**

Phoenix closed the door behind her of the five room apartment uptown. She slumped down into the couch beside the black hair male.

"You're early." The man's voice was gentle but full of sarcasm.

Phoenix gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I had to bring Hyde back. After what that Arnold kid did to him, he was knocked out cold. Not to mention Lucia was so badly wounded they had to send her to the ICU."

"Arnold?" He stared at her with his blue eyes, completely ignoring the latter part of her sentence. _So he's finally here. _He moved his hand from her knee up to her thigh and under the burned skirt. He closes in and kisses her on the lips. "Things just got really interesting for us."

**XXX**

Spitfire carried Arnold through the door of Shou's house and was reunited with Ine and the Duals who had returned hours ago, leaving the Steppers to settle the cleanup at the battle site and in a few days, their new AT parts would arrive as their prize for victory. He settled the injured boy into the sofa and sat beside him while Amaya rushed off to get the first aid kit.

"Damn, that girl hits hard." Arnold groaned.

"I don't know what you're complaining about." Shou said, sitting beside Miu across him. "I'd like to get hit by a girl like that. Or hit on for that matter. She's hot. OUCH!" He felt Miu feet on his paralyzed foot and with no muscles, pulling it away was not an option and he instead struggled with it.

"I don't know about that man." Arnold said as Amaya came in with the first air kit. "I doubt I'll like her even if she's my mother."

"I think she's a bitch." Spitfire said, pouting like a little child.

Ine smiled. "That's because you lost to her."

"Yeah, lighten up hothead. OW!" Miu had increase the pressure on his leg and it was starting to go numb.

"You should really shut up now." She said menacingly.

Akio, Shin and Daichi stood at one corner, intrigue by this strange gathering. Amaya started putting some burn cream on Arnold's wound.

She finished up with one shoulder and moved on to the next. "Wow, she must have really done you some damage. Your skin is totally red. And apparently, so is your hair."

"Because that's my shoulder you idiot." Spitfire let out.

Everyone laughed at Amaya's expenses but she was always a good sport so she laughed with them.

"What happened to your match anyway Spit?" Akio asked suddenly.

The atmosphere tensed up and the laughter died almost immediately. All except for Shou who continued to struggle. His personality gave him an attitude of not having a care in the world when out of an AT battle.

Spitfire opens his mouth to speak but closed it again. He took a deep breath and said, "She used my Infinite Atmosphere against me."

"That's not possible. Without the Regalia, the Infinite Flame cannot work." Shin explained.

"But it happened. I don't know how but it did." He looked up at each and everyone in the room saves for Ine. "You guys have a tough battle on your hand."

"But why us?" Daichi finally spoke.

The Flame King smiled. "You'll find out when the time comes in the meantime, you guys mi-" He was cut of by a yell.

"That's it woman!" Shou exclaimed suddenly. "Are you gonna take your feet off or not?"

"Why don't you make me?" Miu replied defiantly.

And just like that, the most surprising thing of the day happened. Whether it was planned or not did not matter. Shou had leaned in and kissed the girl, making her stop her attack, leaving everyone in the room with their mouth hanging except for Arnold.

"Humph, about time." Arnold murmured to himself.

**Author's end note: Hope everyone enjoyed that. I can't believe it has been a year since I started this. I'll be taking my break from writing now. Hopefully, I will be back in December after exams. **

Tricks

Pile Cannon: Adding another layer of shield into the Guard Axis overloads the shield which explodes outwards like firing a cannon.

Rocket Burst: A high level technique where riders position themselves in a crouching start position. The fast friction of the wheels and the ground starts to burst and upon release, the friction burst gives the rider an instant acceleration boost.

Helios Fort: When two Helios Fang crashes into each other in the exact same opposite direction, the two fangs explode like a Kraken Jaw and the fire surrounding the fangs gets pushed outwards, creating a flaming wall.

Gigaer Cross: A horizontal Fang followed by a vertical Fang.

Calling Shotgun: Shou catches up to one of Tsubasa's Magnum and delivers a kick to double the Magnum power and speed.

Apollo's Sun Flare: By using heat from the friction of the wheel to change density and wind manipulation, Arnold can control the path oxygen takes within an area. Once the paths are set, he puts his ATs into overdrive and they burst into flames with the same concept of a flashover. They fire then follow the designated oxygen path which can be controlled though it requires a large amount of concentration to adjust the density accordingly.

Reverse Calling Shotgun: Same as the first except Tsubasa is the one doing the kicking and Shou's Spirale is the bullet.

Hex Fang: After delivering two cross Fangs, the rider rushes forward and does a back flip while remaining in contact with the ground to create enough friction. And when the flip is executes, two horizontal Fang is shot into the first cross, creating a hex shape and focusing the Fang's power on the centre.

Vortex Breaker: A Magnum is fired directly into a Spirale Air. The unstable air molecule in the Spirale explodes outwards and creates a vortex, sucking up everything from the attacking side and releasing it against the opponent. A supercharged Magnum will retain its form and partially plug the vortex. Once the siphoning reaches a certain level, the vortex will no longer hold and it will fire the Magnum with a force hundred times the normal and faster than the speed of sound.

Team: Stormers

Status: Disbanded

Member count: 5 (Formerly seven)

Tsubasa Tadashi (Leader): A King-Class Storm Rider who seems to have a tragic past with Shou. He is more emotionally unstable than his friend but even so, have complete control of his run while he rides, showing his skills to set aside his emotions for battle. He also holds the title of Gun King.

Shin Toma: A friend of Akio and the second in command of the Stormers. He was the one who set up the match against the Star Trekkers.

Nobu Daiki: A Storm Rider who specializes in enclosed area. He rides the same Road as Daichi. He is currently dating Nanami.

Nanami Hiroko: An amateur rider with incredible physical strength. Have a fear of heights. She is currently dating Nobu.

Nika Ayesha: A cocky rider who got knocked out during the Stormers-Star Trekkers fight because of her ego. Her true ability has not been shown but could very well live up to her tale.

Suzuki (Deceased): One of the two Stormers who were killed by Lucia.

Takuma (Deceased): One of the two Stormers who were killed by Lucia.


	15. Gear nine: Invitation to the Storm

**Author's note: So, what does the gang do when they have (too much) free time on their hands?**

Gear Nine: Invitation to the Storm

"Hello, is that you Shou?" came a voice from the receiver.

"Yeah it's me Tsubasa. What's up?" Shou replied casually,

"I got a spam mail in my inbox today."

"What a coincidence. So did I. Except I got two."

"Two?" Tsubasa was genuinely surprised.

"Yes."

"Who's the other one for?"

"Richard Norman of Timeless Private Limited."

"Richard Norman?"

"Yeah."

From Shou's end, he could barely hear the scribbling of pen. After a few minutes, Tsubasa replied. "Have you told him yet?"

"We'll see how this plays out."

"You're toying with us again?"

"It's more fun this way."

"Asshole. Well, that aside, have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

The phone begins beeping. Upon inspection of the number, Shou realized it was Miu and added her to the conversation.

"Shou?"

"Hello nerd."

"Hey Miu."

"Tsubasa?"

"Yup."

"Hey Tsubasa, have you heard?"

"Yeah I've heard."

"Heard what?!" Shou complained.

"I knew it. You were asleep in class again weren't you?" Miu asked.

"You bet!" He shamelessly admitted.

"Mitsui sensei even reminded us at the end of the lesson. We're going for an overseas education camp next week. We're going to America." Miu explained.

"And our school is coming as well." Tsubasa finished.

Miu continued after Shou have finish digesting the information. "Hey guys, you won't believe what I found in my inbox today."

Tsubasa and Shou involuntarily stood up.

"At first I thought it was some spam mail. But it was actually coded. Took me awhile but I found out what it says." There was a short paused. "'Miu, you have been invited to this season's Storm Prix in two month's time.' What the hell does that mean?"

**XXX**

The Central Point Mall was buzzing with the sounds of shoppers and celebrity crazed teens who have gathered in the atrium, cheering on to J-pop group 'I Say Jump!' performing live on stage.

"Sure is noisy here." Shou stated which borderline on complain. "You know, when you said experience everything with you, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

"So what exactly do you have in mind other than shopping?" Miu asked. She wore a tight casual green shirt and black denims for the occasion coupled with a pair of black track shoes. Shou had his usual outfit of his zipped up hoody and black pants with matching shoes.

"Something which involves a bed." Shou was quick with his witty reply, earning him a sharp kick in his left leg. He would have dodged it but his left hand was holding onto countless numbers of bags of clothes which Miu had bought for the trip to America.

Even for a disabled, he wasn't being deprived of the duties of a typical traditional boyfriend. Namely carrying bags, paying for cabs, opening doors and pulling out seats. _Twenty-first century my ass. _Shou mentally complained.

They entered another shoe store on the third floor which has a row of glass pane covered with translucent advertisement for the shop. Miu browsed through the rows of shoes as Shou slid himself down on his crutch beside the row of glass, looking out as the rain drops patter down like drumbeats without a rhythm.

**XXX**

"This is crazy." Daichi implied, staring into the darkness of the never ending cylindrical sewage tunnel.

Standing behind him in the rain on the long path of the large canal, Tsubasa looked tauntingly at the back of the wall rider with hidden glee. "I never said it wasn't."

"I'll die."

"Not my problem."

"Isn't there another way?"

"You want to get better don't you?"

Daichi gave a great sigh, bends down and switched on his ATs. Tsubasa in turn smiled and sends the text message to Amaya who will release the makeshift dam and let the water rush the canal and soon the sewage.

Tsubasa headed off for cover on higher ground as Daichi climbs into the tunnel. Once he stepped in however, he nearly slip and fell but manage to hold onto the tunnel wall. Noticing the floor was wet and a puddle formed every few meters, Daichi realized he was supposed to wall ride the tunnel and he did so.

Tsubasa had taken the job of preparing the course or so it seems as powerful green light sticks are placed every few feet to shine the way in the dark. When Daichi heard the sound of rushing water, he knew it was his cue to start running, less be drowned.

**XXX**

"Where's Shou?" Shin asked as he moved his knight to take the unguarded pawn. Sitting in Akio's familiar house, the two Tuners played their endless game of chess again.

"He went shopping with Miu." Akio replied, moving his pawn up to guard his knight from a rook.

"Lucky him." Shin was full of sarcasm. He picks up the rook but decided against the move and put it down again, before finally choosing to move his queen up instead. "You lonely?"

"Screw you." Akio moved his pawn up to block the queen. "What about Tsubasa? Haven't seen him around either."

"He's training Daichi in the sewage course." Shin did not make a move.

Akio waited but when no more reply or actions were made by his friend, he continued with the conversation. "If he comes out of my toilet, I'm gonna kill him."

"I don't know," Shin finally moved his pawn up two spaces. "if that happens, he's going on YouTube."

**XXX**

"Son-of-a-bitch, son-of-a-bitch, SON-OF A BITCH!" Daichi's voice echoes throughout the empty tunnel. The rush of water racing behind him.

The tunnel made a left turn and Daichi pushes his ATs up and rode in a loop across the ceiling to move from the left side of the tunnel to the right. If he switched normally, he would slip on the scattered puddles of water and drown himself in the larger gush behind him.

A second loop and a third. He was getting tired. The water behind him now bath in green light from all the light sticks it had 'eaten' up from before.

Daichi nearly slip again but regained his balance before he fell face flat. "How the hell did I agree to this?"

**XXX**

"How's he doing?" Tsubasa asked, leaning over Amaya to look at the laptop screen.

Two dots bleep across the screen on the path of the computer generated blueprint. One was a tracker placed on Daichi's ATs and the other placed near the start of the tunnel so it could be washed away with the water.

"He's doing pretty well," Amaya stated. "I think he might make it all the way."

The laptop gave a beep and a new e-mail came into Amaya's inbox. She clicked it and minimizes the tracker screen so she could view both the mail and Daichi at the same time.

_A good day to you. i aM mArcus YAxley and i wish to ask of YOU to invest in our latest product, gurantee to soar tHrough the mArket. meet the Vast killing wEed Banishing gas which will clEan your gardEN of all those pesky grass IN an instance. VIle TroublEsome weeDs beware, This weed killer is made up Of only naTural cHemIcalS found in animalS and plants and will causE no hArm to the garden compared to other peSticides used in the industry. nO more uNwanted plant death, no Siree. all we aSk of you is TO place youR trust in us and invest a Mere five hundred dollars in our PRoduct. thIs offer will end eXactly IN TWO MONTHS TIME!_

_Mail I.D: 2429_

Tsubasa immediately recognized it as a coded message and it was a shock to him that Amaya received it. But what shocked him even more was that Amaya actually decoded it in a split second.

"Hmm… Amaya, you have been invited to this season's Storm Prix in two months time?" She read out. "What the hell?"

**XXX**

"Oh no, no freaking way am I going in there!" Shou was drawing the line now. Standing outside the entrance to the cinema, he was starting to wonder why he bought the tickets to a crappy romance flick in the first place.

"What's a date without a romantic movie?" Miu said, dragging Shou by the arm. Between the shopping bags and the crutch, Shou was easily losing the tug-of-war.

"A much better one." Shou yank his hand away from the girl.

"Come on!" She said, stomping her feet like a little girl. "What do you have to lose?"

"How about my pride?"

She took a step forward. "If you don't watch with me, you'll understand what pain feels like." Her voice was menacing, almost devil-like.

Shou swallowed hard. "Got it." If there was anything he feared in the world, it was seeing Miu angry. He doesn't like it when she gets angry. In fact, it hurts a lot.

**XXX**

The screen flickered as the song was about to start. The Pump It Up Zero machine was quite old so Arnold could see why it did that. But it was the only PIU machine he could find in town so he would have to make do. He threw the empty can of coke into the dustbin nearby. _It ain't half bad when you get use to the fizz._ The timer hits zero. The screen changes and it begins.

**Greenhorn – Lexy -109bpm**

He stood backwards, having already memorized the steps; he started off between both pads, switching between them on one leg. He jumps once and moves to the right pad, swinging his hands to help him get into the rhythm. He moves to the left, twirling and twisting, losing himself in the game. As he does so, a crowd slowly gathers behind him. He totally loses sight of everything outside the dance pad and just continued dancing away.

Giving the routine a little mix, he uses his hand to hit a step instead of his leg. The rest of the song was fairly normal and when it ended, the crowd gave a round of applause. Arnold gave himself a smile and selected the next song.

**Déjà Vu – Som2 – 115bpm**

He took a quick breather before starting off again…

**XXX**

Shou walked out of the cinema, eyes wide open in shock with Miu clinging onto his right arm. She had taken the bags in her free hand as compensation for what she put the guy through.

"I can't believe I sat through that and lived." Shou said, still in mental shock. "You really suck."

"Oh come on now," Miu leaned in closer and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I said I was sorry. Who knew that show was so mushy? Even for me it was too much."

Shou relaxed his body and looked into her eyes. "When you kiss me like that, how do you expect me to stay angry?"

Miu smiled. "I don't."

A wave of long red hair flowed pass him and Shou turned to see the back of a woman disappear into the crowd with a man. From the back, he looked like Arnold.

"Shou, is something wrong?"

He looked away from the couple's back. "No, everything's fine." _For now…_

**XXX**

Daichi walks out of the shower. Though just fresh from a bath, he still smelled a little odd. It may be because of his journey through a sewage tunnel but then again, maybe not. He swipes a bottle of deodorant from his desk and begins spraying the compound all over his body. Still, the smell stubbornly remains

He place the bottle aside and decided to just leave the stench be for now. He went about to check his mail instead.

"What's this?" He clicks the fifth unread mail. It had caught his eyes for some reason.

_hello sir, i am DonAld ICkas of Heat server Incorporate and i wish to ask of YOU to invest in our latest product, gurantee to soar tHrough the mArket. meet the Vast killing wEed Banishing gas which will clEan your gardEN of all those pesky grass IN an instance. VIle TroublEsome weeDs beware, This weed killer is made up Of only naTural cHemIcalS found in animalS and plants and will causE no hArm to the garden compared to other peSticides used in the industry. nO more uNwanted plant death, no Siree. all we aSk of you is TO place youR trust in us and invest a Mere five hundred dollars in our PRoduct. thIs offer will end eXactly IN TWO MONTHS TIME!_

_Mail I.D: 3497_

"A…message?" He spends a few minutes with a pen and paper, finally underlining the decoded message.

_Daichi, you have been invited to this season's Storm Prix in two months time!_

**Author's note: Well, that's it for my big come back which is not very big to say the least. There'll be more to come though so just you guys (and girls) wait.**

No new tricks


	16. Gear ten: The Shark, the Sword

**Author's note: It's time to stuff some mystery into the plot.**

Gear Ten: The Shark, the Sword…

Susumu Mitsuharu, a thirty nine years old security guard, family man of two kids and a wife about to clock off for the day. He changes out of his mall security uniform at the locker which has been his for ten years. After checking to make sure his brown bob cut hair is still as short as he likes it, he punch out at exactly ten thirty, swinging his chain of keys which he would pass to the night shift guard, Kiyoshi Momotami, for the rest of the evening.

Usually by this time, Kiyoshi would be waiting at the front entrance for Susumu to open. By this time, Susumu would be walking down the deactivated escalator. By this time, the mall would be dead silent except for the singing of crickets outside. And by this time, he would be thinking about the dinner his loving wife would have cooked for him.

But never in his life would he have imagined he would be standing there, at the top of the escalator on the bridge of the second floor with his custom left hand revolver out, body tensed, senses engaged to everything around him.

He could make out Kiyoshi's silhouette at the glass door. He was alert as well, staring out left and right into the empty car park. Susumu turns his back, then, the sound of breaking glass. He whirls, Kiyoshi was cut in half. The man knew there was nothing he could do for his friend now. But instinct overcame him and he flew down the escalator steps in twos.

Once his feet touch ground, he could no longer feel them as they were severed clean off from its joint. He raises his head up to see a tall black figure, shadowed by the moonlight from outside the entrance. It was just a quick glance though for before his body even touches the ground, his head was no longer with him.

**XXX**

After taking down the two guards, the teenage Storm Rider enters the now empty mall, cruising along just fast enough to seem like he is rushing but not too fast as to finish his business before the guests arrives. Making his way through the DIY (Do It Yourself) shop, he picks out the items he came here for and places them in the trolley he took from the supermarket just opposite, moving like anyone would in the morning when the place was crowded. He could buy the stuff instead but, _where would the fun be in that?_ Besides, his whole team does it. They all agreed the thrill is higher this way.

The sound of footsteps stormed the place and he knew his guest have arrived. He could not help but pull out a grim smile as he throws a bundle full of metal plates into the already accumulating junk before pushing his 'purchase' out the shop.

"Hold it right there!" Came the voice of the Windstorm G-Men's Shinjuku Crocodile, Kaito Wanijima; whom behind stands a couple of dozens of armored SWAT officers.

The teen had heard that a special Storm Rider SWAT team had rolled into town and had been curious as to what they were all about. Now, being hidden in the safety of the shadow in the mall, he is sure he'll be quite pleased with the chain of events which will be unfolding.

He pushes the trolley behind a pillar. And instantly felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. It didn't last long and the pain subsided in a second. He looks down to the small rubber bullet lying beside him and look back at Kaito who had his gun raised.

"I said freeze didn't I?" He said, voice calm and had the tone of a playful adult.

The teen spoke, his voice smooth and surreal with a hint of foreign accent. "Actually, you said hold."

"Defiant now are you? And a witty tongue to add. Well, suit yourself." Kaito raises his right hand and the officers behind him pointed their rubber filled rifle at the teen. And in a heck-care voice, "Open fire."

The teen smiled and disappeared, dodging the bullets at an incredible speed. He makes his way to the side of the firing squad and sends a single kick down the line at a far range. That alone was enough to immobilize the team. With half of the men either decapitated or cut and the other half with their weapons slashed apart, he had practically paralyzed his opposing forces.

He landed back beside his trolley again. "That was disappointing." He said to Kaito who was trying to hide his shock.

"I'll say." Said another voice from the shadows of the wall behind the G-Men. It was the voice of a young boy, albeit croakier, as if he was going through puberty.

"Did I call for you Agito?" Kaito scolded sternly. "Since I didn't, get back in the trailer!" He turns his attention back to the teen. "Who do you think you are? Don't try to act cool. It won't save your sorry ass." He was losing his composure. Something which seldom, or may have never even happened before.

"You know who I think he is?" Agito spoke, completely ignoring his brother's order. "I think he's a King."

"Heh, nice deduction there," The teen looks down to make sure the proof was there and indeed, on his two feet is the Fang Regalia, Bloody Armor. "Fang King. Agito 'Shark' Wanijima, it is an honor."

"Fuck your honor, fuck all this talk," Agito spat mouthful of phlegm to his right. "I want BLOOD!" And he rushes towards the teen.

**XXX**

Earlier that day…

"Um…why are we back here again? I thought Shou was training me?" Daichi said, standing in front of the entrance of the sewage tunnel again. "And why the hell are all of you here?!"

Miu, Akio and Shin had turned up to watch Daichi's training. Having complained that things had been quiet and bored lately and hearing how much laughs Amaya had gotten out of Daichi's last training, they decided to come and see the show. But none of them answered his question. They merely smile their mischievous smiles and shrug their mischievous shrugs.

Tsubasa was the one who replied to Daichi, but not about his latter question. "Stop whining. Shou's running some errands so I'm taking over. Now get your ass into that hole!" He gave Daichi a kick and the guy rolled into the course.

He jumped out of the way as Miu sends Amaya the message to release the water. And sure enough, the water came crashing in.

"Oops." Went Tsubasa.

"Oops?" Miu repeated. "What do you mean oops?"

An evil grin spreads across his face. "I 'forgot' to put the light sticks in today."

Shin shot him a half scared, half amused look. "You're kidding right?"

"Nope."

Akio chuckled. "This is gonna be fun."

**XXX**

Arnold and Shou stood by the fountain in the park, waiting for their meet to arrive. Shou had his white hoody unzipped over his blue singlet and black three quarters jeans for pants. His bag slung over his right shoulder, within it, holds two set of ATs. Arnold had on a brown shirt with a black tribal style lion on the front and army style cargo pants. He on the other hand, was wearing his ATs. Shou's can of coke left untouched on the cemented pile of stones that formed the ring of the fountain.

Though the meet was considered formal, the two could give no two shits about the dress code. And they were sure their meet felt the same. And they were right, for Kaito Wanijima came strolling over in his stupid bellbottom and singlet, smoke in one hand and an envelope in the other.

"Hello Kenta." He greeted as he reached them. "Who's your little punk friend?"

"Like hell I'm gonna tell you." Arnold replied fiercely.

"Humph, like I really give a fuck." He turns his attention back to Shou. "Do you have my stuff?"

"Do you have mine?" Shou questioned back.

Kaito waved the envelope at him. "You want it? Give me what you promised."

Shou swung his back to the front and from inside, took out the Fang Regalia from beside his own. "Here. Take this, give me that and get the fuck out of my life." He passed the Regalia to him and Arnold snatch the envelope from him at the same time. Shou had told Arnold before that there was no need to check if it's the real thing for the one thing he could count on from Kaito, was that he never lies in a deal.

"Hmm…" Kaito look at the pair as if he has forgotten something. But of course, he was acting. "Didn't you say you'd kick my sorry ass after you got your stuff?"

Shou wanted to. And after he's done with Kaito, he'll go after the Judas. But instead, he held back his urges and glanced over at Arnold who shook his head ever so lightly to avoid Kaito's notice and Shou turns back his attention to the crocodile again.

"I'll leave it for now."

Kaito gave an evil smile, as if he knew it would end up like this. He turned and walks away. "Maybe I'll introduce to my new boys next time." And he waved goodbye in a taunting fashion.

"New boys?" Shou asked Arnold.

"Akira Udo and Agito. You'll meet them soon."

Shou nodded. "I hope it's right to just let him walk away with this."

"It's not right. But it is needed."

The can of coke was the only spectator to what just unfolded. Dripping its own version of sweat under the sun as the threads of fate is being spun.

**Author's end note: By far the shortest chapter yet. That's because the next chapter is gonna be a follow-up.**

No new tricks


	17. Gear eleven: and the Keisuke Tower

**Author's note: Woot! Finally got to it. **

Gear Eleven: …and the Keisuke Tower

Fang King Agito sends a raging Fang towards the mysterious teen who have introduced himself as Edge. Though not as strong as Lucia's, the Fang was still powerful enough to send a ear racking slam as it hits the fake Statue of Liberty in the foyer of the mall. Edge dodges the attack and kicks, sending a **Sword **of his own.

Agito flips back and the Sword narrowly misses as the wind shaves off a few a few lock of hair from his side. The Fang King regains his balance and charges in close for a melee assault.

He kicks and Edge jumps back.

"Gotcha!" Now Agito has the advantage. Edge can't produce his swords in the air so he sends a vertical Fang straight at him.

What happened next made his heart stopped for a moment and he was pretty sure what he felt was a first for him. He felt…

…fear.

His Fang was sliced in half from bottom up. He had to move, he could see the blurry outline of the Sword right in front of him but he couldn't. It was there, so close, inches away and then it wasn't.

"What the-!" He stood there, mentally paralyzed, something which was very out of his character.

"I guess I should explain."

The voice knocks him back into the world. Edge's tone was filled with excitement, as if the thought of explaining something was the most joyful thing in the world to him.

"I'm also guessing that you thought I could only produce my Swords if my feet are touching the ground right?"

"Che…" A look of discontent swept over Agito's face.

That reaction alone was enough to garner Edge's satisfaction and he continues his speech. "Compressed air my friend, that's the trick."

_I'm not your FUCKING friend!_

"Yup, compressed air within the wheels does the trick just right. Of course, I have to release them in different burst according to the distance I want the Sword to reach and I only have a limited amount of Swords I can send before I have to stock up the air again." Edge gives Agito a moment of silent to absorb the information.

"You're a fag."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Mind if I tell you how I stock up?"

"Humph, be my fucking guest."

Edge smiled. His deduction was right. This new Fang King doesn't have the stamina of the previous King and needed rest.

"You, Fang King of the Bloody Road," Edge pointed at Agito. "releases your fangs by using the friction of the wheels. I on the other hand am slightly more light-footed. Without putting too much pressure on my wheels, it generates a decent amount of air beneath it when it spins. And at an instant acceleration, the air generated gets pushed out, creating a 'Sword'. But to generate the Swords, I need-"

"A Regalia, one that can handle the 100-0-100 effect."

The teen smiled, his vampire like teeth flashed in the darkness. "The **Double Edge**."

His explanation was over and apparently, so was Agito's resting time. He advanced at a breakneck speed. His ATs, as if had a silencer put on, made no more sound than the whisper of wind. Edge closed in and Agito stepped back, he turned tail and decided to try and put a little distance between them but to no avail.

He found himself falling, felt a slight burn on his cheek before realizing he could not feel his body at all. Agito hit the floor hard, half submerged in the moonlight shining through the glass paned ceiling of the hellhole he entered.

**XXX**

The door opens as Miu walks into Akio's apartment carrying handful of plastic bags with her. "I've got dinner!" She placed the food on the dining table.

Tsubasa and Amaya were watching the television with a news report about a mall being robbed by Storm Riders. Akio and Shin were going over the data they've collected from Daichi's run and as for Daichi himself, he's trying to wash off the last of the grime off his body.

"Thanks Miu, we'll grab some later." Akio waved to her, too focused on his calculations to care. Amaya and Tsubasa however just helped themselves to it.

Taking a look around, Miu realized someone was missing. "Where's Shou?" When she had left to buy their dinner, she was sure her boyfriend was still in the room with them.

Shin, Tsubasa and Amaya scanned the area themselves. Apparently they did not notice Shou's disappearance. When they've noticed how calm Akio was, it was a matter of time before the questioning began.

"He's your boyfriend right? Shouldn't you know?" A burst of dangerous aura began to emit from Miu. Not wanting to taste a lover's fury, Akio asked, "What day is it?"

Amaya consulted her digital watch. "Thursday." She said.

"Then he should be at the line of old cable towers on the outskirt of town." Akio answered to the question no one asked but everyone pondered upon.

"What in the world is he doing there?" Amaya had her food en route to her mouth when the answer was given.

"Why don't you go ask him? I'm sure he'll be more than glad to tell you." Sarcasm, something very un-Akio like. It seems like they've hit one of Shou's sweet spot for even his confidante was reluctant to talk about it.

"Would you…take us to him?" Miu asked. She wanted to know more about Shou and just what exactly did he go through in the past. They all did. But at the same time, the girl was trembling with fear at the answer.

Akio looked up to them, each of their eyes staring down at him like satellite lasers. "Before you see him, you need to remember one thing."

And Amaya replied, "What's that?"

"No matter how good Shou is, he's only human."

**XXX**

Agito laid there in a pool of his own blood. The small gash on his cheeks was nothing compared the giant cross-shaped cut on his chest. In the end, this new Fang King was no match for the monstrosity known as Edge.

"F…uck…" was the only thing he managed to say before passing out. How fast did his opponent move then? What kind of Road did that guy rode? What's his real name? _I don't ever…want to fight…that guy…again…_

Edge made his slow way out of the now empty mall. A small puddle had formed between Kaito's legs as he sat in the fetal position in a corner. The body of the dead smelled. The world was dark and the clinging sound of the trolley filled with DIY items faded into the distance of the outside world.

The mysterious teen rode silently through the now empty car park; under the clear moon and still air he sung a much gory-filled version of Moonlight Bay in a deep dark tone.

"As we're riding along, on moonlight bay…" the crows caw and a car passing by the street honked.

Reyna joined the walking man. "…we could we're the voices screaming…" the spinning lights of the silent flashing sirens drew dancing shadows across the concrete.

"…please leave me dead." Haruka joined them as the two reached the sidewalks. The streets were empty.

"You have cut out my heart…" sang Hyde who got up from the darkness of a street bench and entered the party. The streetlamps created a world where they travelled through dimensions of light and darkness.

Lucia sang in a higher note than the others. "…and ate my brains." She smiled as she skipped in with the group, now riding along the main road instead.

Ending the orchestra of death, the gang sang the last versed in one horridly creepily mixed voice. "And we filled the world with red blood, on moonlight bay!" The group turned into an alley and vanished into the shadows.

**XXX**

Arnold gazed at his friend, partially in awe of his shear stubbornness. The other part was because of what Shou was doing or in this case, not doing. The lame teen fell again, his hoody now covered with patches of brown. A small cut has formed on his cheek from a bad recovery. He pushed himself back up again and rode away from the cable tower.

A tear dripped down from Arnold's eye. Something about watching a person he had came to recognize as one of the best Storm Rider out there, fumbling at something as simple as climbing up the metal tower saddened him. Strangely, it wasn't the fall that made him cry, it was the climb. He had never seen someone so determined, so fierce, so relentless in a run before. Judging by the scratch marks on the tower, Shou had never made it past five meters to the top. Even though the veteran Storm Rider could have easily made it up if he had just swung from the other beams of the tower, he insisted on going straight up.

Reaching the optimal distance, Shou rushed the tower again, jumping just meters before reaching it for the best speed he can get. He went up the metal beam, bending his body over with his hand left behind him to reduce wind resistance.

The higher Shou went though, the more speed he lost to gravity and just six meters before the top he jumped off, unable to continue with his ascend. Grey clouds started to move under the night sky and soon, it began drizzling. Shou hooded up and headed off for another go for the tower.

"He comes here every Thursday to try to beat this tower." Akio told Arnold and the rest of the gang that had just appeared.

The girls were crying as well, though much more openly than Arnold. "I've never seen him look that way." Miu said.

Indeed, Shou's facial expression could not be considered normal. His pupils were contracted, his visual were focused solely on the metal structure. He wore none of his usual calm composure and instead, a look of pure anger covered his face like a mask. Wet, dirty and bruised, the teen in white charged the tower again. There was just something about his run that packed a wallop of sadness.

"Something happened here two years ago. He lost someone close to him. They were like brothers back then too." Akio explained.

"Who?" The Gun King asked.

"Keisuke Umehara."

**Author's end note: I'll admit, not my best chapter and I won't cover things up by saying it was a breeze to write this. I literally ran out of idea on plot elements and I nearly gave up on Lost Regalia. I don't think there's any chance of that happening now though since my muse decided to cut me some slack and start working again.**

Tricks

Sword: Edge's Regalia specialty. By reversing the Fang Regalia's 0-100-0 property, Edge can create swords. First, he compresses air surrounding his wheels with a steady acceleration before releasing them by kicking, creating a pile of wind much like Miu's Guard Axis but much weaker. Here, the 100-0-100 comes in play. Edge then brakes instantaneously, creating a gap between the wind and his ATs before accelerating to an instant 100 again, releasing a burst of air that redirects the pile of air inward than out, creating a razor sharp burst of air. The Sword however only last a few seconds as it takes extremely strong burst of wind to give the attack form.


End file.
